It’s not so much about being innovative or first to market its about… interest payments. Yes, interest payments.
From the article:
Because of the dollar’s prominent role in international commerce and the dominant U.S. leadership position in global affairs over the past century, many foreign central banks, commercial banks and investors hold assets denominated in the American currency.
If that stopped happening due to the existence of an attractive and viable alternative, the thinking goes, then demand for U.S. assets such as Treasury bonds would shrink, in turn pushing up interest rates on the national debt, which is now approaching an unprecedented $23 trillion.
Kaplan noted that the U.S. government’s interest payments could jump by some $200 billion if a loss of the reserve-currency status sent interest rates jumping by a single percentage point, or 100 basis points in the lingo of bond traders.
Another eye-opening line of the article made mention of Libra:
Fed Chair Jerome Powell and some U.S. lawmakers warned earlier this year that Facebook’s plan to develop a digital currency, Libra, could instantly become so popular that it might displace the dollar and undermine the stability of the U.S. financial system