United States Representative Tom Emmer believes that the launch of the central bank’s programmable digital currency in the country could strip American citizens of their financial privacy.

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In a March 9 speech at the Cato Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based libertarian think tank, Emmer explained that programmable CBDC could “easily be used” as a spy tool to “stifle politically unpopular activities,” among other things. :

As the federal government tries to maintain and expand the financial control it has become accustomed to, the idea of ​​central bank digital currency has gained traction within the institutions of power in the United States as a programmable money controlled by the government that can easily be turned into a surveillance tool.

The Minnesota congressman introduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance Act on February 22 to stop the advance of the Digital Dollar Project, which has seen considerable progress in its use since the second version of its white paper was published in mid-January.

“The recent actions of the Biden Administration make it clear that they are not only eager to create a digital dollar, but are willing to trade Americans’ right to financial privacy for CBDC-style surveillance,” he added.

Emmer suggested that the blockchain-enabled “ownership economy” is “threatening” many bureaucrats in Washington, as it “shifts economic power from centralized institutions back into the hands of the people.”

Although the latest Fed discussion paper explained that it would only issue CBDC in the context of “broad public and intergovernmental support,” Emmer and many others are concerned about the potential dangers that could arise:

It not only tracks transaction-level data down to the individual user, but also the ability to program the CBDC to stifle politically unpopular activity.

Emmer also argued that decentralized cryptocurrencies can serve as a solution to the mismanagement of the American monetary system and restore many of the “American values” that led the nation to become an economic powerhouse in the 20th century: privacy, individual sovereignty, and free market.

He added that even by experimenting with CBDCs, the United States is going against these values:

“Nothing could be more dangerous than adhering to a manufactured sense of urgency like this and ultimately developing a CBDC that is not open, permissionless and private.”

take from: https://es.cointelegraph.com/