An initiative to release a digital dollar (CBDC) in the U.S. met resistance in the upper chamber of Congress. A group of senators put forward a bill that could lead to the end of the Federal Reserve’s plans to issue the CBDC.
Five U.S. senators joined forces to put forward the “CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act,” which would rule out the possibility of the Fed issuing the digital dollar. The main author of the bill is Ted Cruz, with Senators Bill Hagerty, Rick Scott, Ted Budd, and Mike Braun. All of them are members of the Republican Party.
The bill before Congress states explicitly that the Fed lacks the authority to implement the CBDC because the agency can’t directly offer certain products or services to individuals. In the accompanying memo, the senators also express concern about the White House’s plans to conduct surveillance of citizens and limit the freedom and financial privacy of Americans using the digital dollar.
The bill’s authors note that the government may use the central bank digital currency to suppress its political opponents. The law also suggests the need for congressional authorization to issue any form of CBDCs in the future.
By the way, ex-President Donald Trump, who’s running for the post again in 2024, was actively speaking out against CBDCs. In particular, he repeatedly promised voters to “never allow” the creation of an in-house CBDC. Trump regularly emphasizes the negative aspects of introducing the digital dollar.
However, the development and various tests of the U.S. CBDC were carried out for several years. In August 2023, the Digital Dollar Project tested the use of a retail CBDC for cross-border money transfers. It was previously reported that Ripple Labs is involved in the development of the digital dollar. At the same time, two-thirds of Americans expressed concerns about the CBDC launch, and many researchers agreed that the digital dollar for the United States is “a solution in search of a problem.”
