On September 20, the U.S. House Financial Services Committee will consider two bills aimed at preventing the potential issuance of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States.
According to a statement from Patrick McHenry, Congressman from North Carolina and Chairman of the U.S. House Financial Services Committee, lawmakers will discuss the details of two bills on September 20, the main purpose of which is to block the possibility of developing and issuing CBDCs in the country.
Thus, on the Committee’s agenda is the consideration and amendment of:
- H.R. 3712, or the “Digital Dollar Pilot Prevention Act,” which would prohibit the Federal Reserve from launching CBDC testing pilots without approval from Congress. The bill was introduced by Representative Alex Mooney on May 25.
- H.R. 5403, or the “CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act,” which would prohibit Fed banks from offering products or services related to CBDCs and digital assets directly to an individual. The bill was introduced on September 12 by Tom Emmer, Representative that serves as the House Majority Whip.
The possibility of introducing CBDCs in the United States causes a lot of controversy among both politicians and ordinary Americans. CBDC supporters believe that the digital dollar will increase the stability of the banking system, while their opponents argue that CBDCs pose a threat to the financial privacy of the country’s citizens, who express active opposition to the technology.
Despite the fact that representatives of the Federal Reserve System haven’t officially confirmed their intentions to issue CBDCs in the U.S., they’re still actively promoting technical developments and testing the capabilities of CBDCs. For example, PArSEC, a platform for experimenting with CBDCs, was recently launched with the participation of representatives of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (FRBB). And the New York Innovation Center (NYIC) participated in testing CBDC interoperability with commercial banks’ digital assets.
