Republican lawmakers at the state and federal levels have introduced multiple bills this week meant to prohibit or discourage the Federal Reserve from creating a central bank digital currency, also known as a CBDC.
Opponents of the so-called digital dollar contend that the asset, which would be managed by central bankers and tethered to the value of the physical dollar, would enable and increase government surveillance and control of private citizens. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) proposed one such piece of legislation on Thursday, comparing a potential digital dollar in the United States to an experimental digital yuan slated to be unveiled in China.
“Presently, the Federal Reserve is in the process of researching and developing its own CBDC that would, like China’s, centralize the government’s control over the economy, while strangling our fundamental liberties,” Lee said in a summary of his legislation. “An American CBDC would offer citizens nothing that they cannot already…
