WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve plans as early as this week to launch a review of the potential benefits and risks of issuing a US digital currency, as central banks around the world experiment with the potential new form of money.

Fed officials are divided on the matter, making it unlikely they will decide any time soon on whether to create a digital dollar. Unlike private cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, a Fed version would be issued by and backed by the US central bank, a government entity, as are US paper dollar bills and coins.