Tom Emmer, House Majority Leader who has been Minnesota’s 6th congressional district for the past seven years, introduces the state’s Central Bank Digital Currency Surveillance Act (CBDC) to prevent “government violating citizens’ right to privacy private life.” should they go in that direction.
State anti-surveillance law CBDC
In a Feb. 22 tweet, Tom said the act would prevent what he says are “unelected bureaucrats” in Washington, the seat of power in the United States, from depriving Americans of their right to financial privacy.
Today, I introduced the CBDC State Anti-Spying Act to stop unelected bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. from trying to deprive Americans of their right to financial privacy. 👇 pic.twitter.com/lONbHFZMk7
— Tom Emmer (@GOPMajorityWhip) February 22, 2023
The bill would prevent the US Federal Reserve from directly issuing Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to anyone. Moreover, it would prevent the central bank from using the CBDC to implement its monetary policy or control the economy. If passed, this bill would require all CBDC projects to be transparent to Congress, the United States’ legislative body, and the American people.
The bill comes with increased crackdowns, especially from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against stablecoin issuers, including Paxos, and cryptocurrency projects in the country. Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken, for example, settled with the agency, paying a $30 million withdrawal fee and promising to stop serving retail rates in the United States.
Meanwhile, Paxos, the issuer of BUSD, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar, received a notice from the regulator. The SEC states that all BUSD in circulation are unregistered securities.
Fed undecided on digital dollar
The United States is considering issuing a CBDC, a digital dollar to be minted by the Federal Reserve. This is not like bitcoin, which runs on a public network without trust.
However, the central bank has not decided whether the project should go ahead and implement a CBDC that effectively digitizes the US dollar. However, they are looking at the benefits and risks of CBDC from “different angles”. In the course of the study, the goal is to test whether this improves what the Fed says is “an already secure and efficient U.S. domestic payment system.”
Tom Emmer is introducing this bill to prevent government excesses if the Fed decides to implement a CBDC system by launching a digital dollar.
Any digital version of the dollar must uphold our American values of privacy, individual sovereignty, and free market competitiveness. Anything less opens the door to the development of a dangerous surveillance tool.
Critics say the CBDC could be turned into a tool for illegal surveillance of the population, violating their privacy rights, which is a concern.
Nigeria has already implemented eNaira, and several other countries, including China, are digitizing their currencies.
Credit : www.newsbtc.com
