Stephen Harper – formerly worked as the Canadian prime minister for nine years – reportedly disclosed that it is a possible scenario for both Bitcoin and CBDC, to be included a basket of reserve currencies, replacing the dollar. 

Specifically, during an interview with investment firm Cambridge House’s Jay Martin at the Vancouver Resource Investment Conference, Harper reportedly remarked that a large currency such as the Euro or Chinese yuan could be the driving force that leads to the replacement of the US dollar. 

Nonetheless, Harper is unsure whether either of the coins could be the appropriate replacement, taking into account the value uncertainty of the Euro in the long run, and the “arbitrary measures” the Chinese authority would employ, in terms of the yuan’s value. 

“It’s hard to see what the alternative is to the U.S. dollar as the world’s major reserve currency. Other than gold, Bitcoin, a whole basket of things […] I think you’ll see the number of things that people use as reserves will expand, but the U.S. dollar will still be the bulk of it.”

Harper additionally claimed that the availability of CBDCs is only a matter of time, but to some extent will be under the effect of monetary policy throughout the globe, when rolled out. 

Harper reportedly shared that he was concerned with central banks turning into “kind of a general banker”, compared to functioning solely as a financial monitor, which is a factor that could have influence on the release of any CBDC. 

“Ultimately, if you have a digital currency and the purpose of the central bank is to control inflation and create a stable currency and prices ability, then digital currency is just kind of an evolution of the marketplace. But if it’s part of a series of what I think are wild experiments as to the role of central banking, then it worries me a lot.” Harper further claimed.