This week, the House of Representatives will vote on legislation sponsored by House Majority Whip called the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act. The bill is relatively straightforward, but in sum would stop the Fed from issuing any form of CBDC without congressional approval.
Countries around the world have become increasingly intrigued by the notion of a CBDC, with China being the biggest world power to embrace such a centralized currency so far. China has the digital renminbi, also known as the digital yuan. Residents in China can use digital currency just like they would cash but through specialized digital wallets.
“So what we’re worried about is the surveillance part of it the government having all this information which they should not have,” the congressman said. Anthony said the financial information could reveal things such as one’s political leanings, work, religion, charitable donations, and even location.
“We can see that, from all the way back to 1970 with the Bank Secrecy Act, designed to only look at foreign bank accounts, how that has quickly changed over time to then check what every person doing in the country from just large transactions to potentially suspicious transactions,” he said, adding that the Patriot Act then took it even further.