Congressmen and long-time crypto advocate, Mr Tom Emmer has introduced a bill to interrupt Fed’s ongoing studies on digital currencies. The bill prohibits Federal Reserve to issue its own CBDCs to individuals. Emmer has stated that the central bank should focus on protecting financial privacy, maintaining the dominance of the US dollars, and introducing innovation.
CBDCs, as he states will turn the Fed into a retail bank. This will make Americans vulnerable to menaces and can also be used as a “surveillance tool”. Issuing the same will help Fed centralize individuals’ financial information which will be an invasion of privacy and should not be tolerated by Americans from their own government, stated the Minnesota republican.
As of now, 87 countries are exploring their own CBDCs, and out of them, 14 economies including the major ones such as China and South Korea, are all set for their trial period. According to a tracker by the Atlantic Council, the U.S is the furthest behind. Emmer beliefs, “Such a model would put the Fed on an insidious path akin to China’s digital authoritarianism”.
