House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) reintroduced the Central Bank Digital Currency Anti-Surveillance State Act on Sept. 12, a bill that restricts the Federal Reserve (Fed) and member banks from issuing a digital dollar and using it to construct monetary policy.

Rep. Emmer and the 49 cosponsors fear that the federal government and “unelected bureaucrats” could exploit a CBDC to monitor Americans’ transactions and stifle political activity, effectively eliminating privacy, individual sovereignty, and free-enterprise competition.

“If not designed to be open, permissionless, and private—emulating cash—a government-issued CBDC is nothing more than a CCP-style surveillance tool that would be used to undermine the American way of life,” Mr. Emmer said in a statement, referring to China’s ruling Chinese Communist Party.

He originally introduced the bill in February, warning that the Biden administration would “create a digital authoritarian-style, surveillance-style digital dollar through an executive order.”

The upper chamber has also seen anti-CBDC legislation introduced by Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). However, because Democrats control the Senate and the White House, political observers believe it is unlikely that these bills will pass. At the same time, proponents contend that these legislative pursuits will create more awareness about the drawbacks surrounding a CBDC.

‘Government-Sanctioned Surveillance’

The CBDC issue has also made its way to the 2024 election trail, as several candidates have expressed concern over the creation of a digital dollar.

Vivek Ramaswamy, an entrepreneur and GOP White House hopeful, described himself as a “big opponent” of CBDCs and purported that they are “a grave threat to liberty in this country.”

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa in July that he would prohibit CBDCs if he were elected in 2024.

“Done, dead, not happening in this country,” Mr. DeSantis said. “If I am the president, on day one, we will nix central bank digital currency.”

Mr. DeSantis, who is trailing behind former President Donald Trump by wide margins in the Republican primary polls, has previously called CBDCs “government-sanctioned surveillance.” In March, he signed a bill that would ban the use of a national CBDC as money within Florida.

“The Biden administration’s efforts to inject a Centralized Bank Digital Currency is about surveillance and control,” he said in a statement. “Today’s announcement will protect Florida consumers and businesses from the reckless adoption of a ‘centralized digital dollar’ which will stifle innovation and promote government-sanctioned surveillance. Florida will not side with economic central planners; we will not adopt policies that threaten personal economic freedom and security.”

In a June interview with the New York Post, Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. argued that CBDCs are “instruments of control and oppression, and are certain to be abused.”

Speaking at a fintech conference hosted by the Philadelphia Fed Bank on Sept. 8, Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr noted that the central bank “has made no decision on issuing a CBDC.”

“Investigation and research are very different from decision-making about next steps in terms of payments system development, and we are a long way from that,” Mr. Barr said in a speech. “The Federal Reserve has made no decision on issuing a CBDC and would only proceed with the issuance of a CBDC with clear support from the executive branch and authorizing legislation from Congress.”

Digital Dollar Dilemma

Five witnesses appeared before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion on Sept. 14. The hearing consisted of a chorus of anti-CBDC voices, with Chairman French Hill (R-Ark.) asserting that CBDCs do not have much support “except from those on the fringes who think somehow a CBDC might be an amazing solution to many unstated global problems.”

A CBDC could extend the government with more tools to infringe on individual liberty, said Christina Parajon Skinner, an assistant professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

“Introducing CBDC is likely to have certain costs to individual economic liberty by providing the state with more tools—and hence greater temptation—to establish command-and-control style public policy,” Ms. Skinner told lawmakers, adding that it could diminish private innovation, impact financial market structures, and fail to advance specific goals, like preserving the global dollar hegemony.

“Technology and economic geopolitics can change rapidly, to be sure, but at least right now, the costs of introducing CBDC appear to outweigh the benefits,” she said.

Norbert Michel, the vice president and director at the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, cited a litany of risks, including threats to core freedoms.

If a CBDC were installed during the coronavirus pandemic, the government could have programmed a CBDC only to allow transactions with businesses deemed essential or alert authorities if citizens violated COVID lockdowns, Mr. Michel noted.

“The possibilities for the programmability of a CBDC are nearly endless,” he stated. “And in all of them, even the best of intentions are just a few steps away from leading to serious abuses of power.”

This concern might emanate from a recent discussion at the World Economic Forum during a so-called Summer Davos event in China. Cornell University professor Eswar Prasad discussed the possibility of using CBDCs to socially engineer society.

“You could have … a potentially better—or some people might say a darker world—where the government decides that units of central bank money can be used to purchase some things, but not other things that it deems less desirable like, say, ammunition, or drugs, or pornography, or something of the sort,” Mr. Prasad told the audience in June. “And that is very powerful in terms of the use of a CBDC, and I think also extremely dangerous to central banks.”

According to the Atlantic Council, 11 countries have launched a digital currency, including the Bahamas, Jamaica, Nigeria, and Anguilla. Twenty-one nations have launched pilot projects, and 33 are still in the development phase. Dozens of others are researching the subject.

Results from the Cato Institute 2023 CBDC National Survey found that only 16 percent of Americans support the federal government issuing a central bank digital currency, as many are skeptical. Despite the lack of support, even inside countries that have adopted and employed some incarnation of a digital currency, a 2022 Bank of International Settlements (BIS) study found that 60 percent of central banks have bolstered their CBDC work.

What do you think? Sound off on our Economic Collapse Substack.

As cash is phased out, those that resist being part of the new global system are increasingly pushed to the outer fringes of society.  Hardly anyone is willing to employ them any longer, it has become virtually impossible for them to get loans, and they are looked down upon by much of the general population.  And then after the vast majority of the global population has “willingly” signed up for the new global system of digital identification, it is announced that the system will now become mandatory.  That means that anyone that does not submit will not be able to buy, sell, get a job or have a bank account.

You may think that I am exaggerating the dangers of a global system of digital identification. I wish that I was. Once a global system of digital identification is introduced, it will rapidly become our most important form of identification.

It will become more important than your driver’s license and more important than your Social Security number. Pretty quickly, it would become required for almost every financial transaction that you make online.

A lot of people may think that would be a good thing.  After all, there are so many scammers and thieves on the Internet these days.

And I would agree that there is a need for more financial security on the Internet, but I am 100 percent against any type of global digital identification system because the potential for tyranny would be off the charts.

Unfortunately, that is exactly the type of system that is now being proposed by policy makers at the United Nations.

In a May 2023 policy brief entitled “A Global Digital Compact — an Open, Free and Secure Digital Future for All”, we are told that “an open, free, secure and human-centred digital future” is absolutely critical for the “attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals”…

The present brief proposes the development of a Global Digital Compact that would set out principles, objectives and actions for advancing an open, free, secure and human-centred digital future, one that is anchored in universal human rights and that enables the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals. It outlines areas in which the need for multi-stakeholder digital cooperation is urgent and sets out how a Global Digital Compact can help to realize the commitment in the declaration on the commemoration of the seventy-fifth anniversary of the United Nations (General Assembly resolution 75/1) to “shaping a shared vision on digital cooperation” by providing an inclusive global framework. Such a framework is essential for the multi-stakeholder action required to overcome digital, data and innovation divides and to achieve the governance required for a sustainable digital future.

Most people in the general population would not be too alarmed after reading that introductory paragraph.

But as they say, the devil is in the details.

If you go to page 8 of the policy brief, you will find the section where a system of digital identification “linked with bank or mobile money accounts” is proposed…

Digital IDs linked with bank or mobile money accounts can improve the delivery of social protection coverage and serve to better reach eligible beneficiaries. Digital technologies may help to reduce leakage, errors and costs in the design of social protection programmes.

I briefly mentioned this the other day, but I don’t think that most people understood the implications that this has for all of us.

Under such a system, if your social credit score gets too low you could be put in “digital jail” for a certain period of time.  Your “digital privileges” would be suspended for a while, and that would mean that you could not buy, sell or live your normal life for the duration of your punishment.

Of course if you insist on being a “repeat offender” enough times, you could have your “digital privileges” revoked permanently.

What would you do then? You wouldn’t be able to buy or sell anything. You wouldn’t be able to get a job. You wouldn’t be able to have a bank account. At best, you would be a total outcast from society. Don’t be fooled into thinking that this sort of a system is a long way off.

Three months from now, the European Union will “mandate” that all member states offer a “digital identity wallet” to every single one of their citizens and businesses…

The European Union will mandate digital identity under eIDAS 2.0, which will go into effect in September 2023 and ensure all Member States offer a digital identity wallet (DIW) to citizens and businesses. According to the European Commission, “At least 80% of citizens should be able to use a digital ID solution to access key public services by 2030.”

Initially, participation by individuals and businesses in the EU system will be voluntary.

But over the past few years we have seen how quickly “voluntary” measures can become “mandatory”.

When I say that we are living in one of the most critical times in all of human history, I am not joking.

There is a reason why the UK, the EU and the U.S. are all getting ready to roll out CBDCs.

And there is a reason why “digital identification” has suddenly become such a hot issue.

They really do want to build a digital prison for all of us, and if you plan to object the time to do so is now.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

Article cross-posted from The Economic Collapse Blog.

Then, I read the article. Unfortunately, the rosy picture was only painted that way because most people who have an opinion on the subject were against CBDCs. That leaves 16% embracing the idea of CBDCs and around half of America not having an opinion at all.

Only 34% oppose CBDCs. That’s not a victory. That’s a decidedly awful statistic because it means we’re not doing our job in conservative and alternative media. It means we’re not reaching enough people with the truth. Because if we were reaching enough people, then the vast majority of Americans would be opposed to the oppression-enabling dystopian  vision of digital currencies controlled by the powers-that-be.

Here’s the article, and while I appreciate the sentiment that those who know about it are mostly opposed, I disagree that it’s good news in general. The push for a “Digital Dollar” is underway and if we can’t wake enough people up to the dangers, they are going to slumber their way into having it thrust upon them… and the rest of us. We must do better and make people care.

Poll: Americans Don’t Want a Central Bank Digital Currency

A poll from the Cato Institute indicates that, while about half of Americans do not have an opinion regarding whether the Federal Reserve should “begin offering a government-issued digital currency, called a ‘central bank digital currency’ (CBDC),” among those with an opinion on the matter over twice as many — 34 percent of poll participants — oppose the prospect as support it — 16 percent.

This result of the poll conducted from February 27 through March 8 in collaboration with YouGov is promising for Americans concerned about the threat a CBDC, which the Federal Reserve and big financial companies have been testing in preparation for its potential introduction, poses to freedom and privacy in America.

The poll results further indicate that, if Americans can be educated about the abusive government powers a CBDC can advance, many Americans currently undecided regarding the introduction of a CBDC will see good reason to oppose it. Emily Ekins and Jordan Gygi wrote in their May 31 in-depth Cato Institute article concerning the poll results:

Overwhelming majorities would oppose the adoption of a CBDC if it meant that the government could control what people spend their money on (74%), that the government could monitor their spending (68%), that a CBDC would abolish all U.S. cash (68%), that a CBDC would attract cyberattacks (65%), that the government could charge a tax on those who don’t spend money during recessions (64%), or that the government could freeze the digital bank accounts of political protesters (59%). Americans were marginally opposed (52%) if a CBDC could cause some people to stop using private banks, resulting in some banks going out of business.

The candidates now in second place in the Republican and Democratic presidential primaries — Ron DeSantis and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. — appear to be in the anti-CBDC camp. Hopefully, we will see more and more politicians joining them over the coming months in standing up against this threat posed by the Federal Reserve and US government.

Meanwhile, it is also important that Americans across the country educate the people they come into contact with about why a CBDC in America is unacceptable. The new poll from the Cato Institute suggests that many people will be receptive to this message.

Copyright © 2023 by RonPaul Institute. Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly granted, provided full credit and a live link are given.

DeSantis, accompanied by Commissioner Wilton Simpson and President Kathleen Passidomo, signed the bill at the Southwest Florida Public Service Academy at Fort Myers Technical College, according to Fox 4.

“DeSantis announced comprehensive legislation to protect Floridians from the Biden administration’s weaponization of the financial sector through a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC),” the outlet reported further, adding what the law does:

• Expressly prohibiting the use of a federally adopted Central Bank Digital Currency as money within Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).
• Instituting protections against a central global currency by prohibiting any CBDC issued by a foreign reserve or foreign sanctioned central bank.
• Calling on likeminded states to join Florida in adopting similar prohibitions within their respective Commercial Codes to fight back against this concept nationwide.

Central bank cryptocurrencies (CBCCs) have been a hot topic of discussion among economists and policymakers in recent years. While the idea of a digital currency issued by a central bank has its advantages, there are also concerns that need to be addressed before such a currency can be implemented.

One of the main concerns about CBCCs is privacy. A CBCC would likely require users to have a digital wallet that is linked to their identity, which could potentially compromise their privacy. This is particularly concerning given that central banks have access to a wealth of financial data that could be used to monitor and track individuals’ spending habits. To address this concern, central banks would need to ensure that CBCCs are designed with strong privacy protections that prevent unauthorized access to user data.

Another concern is the potential for CBCCs to disrupt the traditional banking system. One of the main benefits of CBCCs is that they would enable peer-to-peer transactions without the need for intermediaries such as banks. While this could be beneficial for consumers, it could also lead to a loss of control for central banks over the money supply, which could have significant implications for monetary policy. To mitigate this risk, central banks would need to carefully consider the design of CBCCs and how they would fit within the existing monetary system.

A related concern is the potential for CBCCs to destabilize the financial system. If a CBCC were to gain widespread adoption, it could potentially undermine the stability of the banking system by reducing the demand for traditional bank deposits. This could in turn lead to a decrease in lending and investment, which could have negative effects on the economy as a whole. To address this concern, central banks would need to carefully consider the impact of CBCCs on the financial system and take steps to ensure that they do not pose a systemic risk.

There are also concerns around the technical feasibility of CBCCs. While blockchain technology has made significant strides in recent years, it is still in its early stages and there are significant technical challenges that need to be overcome before CBCCs can be implemented. These challenges include scalability, security, and interoperability with existing financial systems. Central banks would need to work closely with technology firms and other stakeholders to address these challenges and ensure that CBCCs are technically feasible.

Finally, there are concerns around the potential for CBCCs to be used for illicit activities such as money laundering and terrorism financing. While these concerns are not unique to CBCCs, the fact that they would be issued by a central bank could make them more attractive to criminals. To address this concern, central banks would need to work closely with law enforcement agencies and other stakeholders to ensure that CBCCs are not used for illicit activities — but would they?

Obviously, DeSantis does not want Floridians exposed to these dangers, and hopefully, more governors will follow his lead.

Sources include:

• NaturalNews.com
• Fox4Now.com
• NATURAL NEWS

In January last year, the Fed published a white paper on what a CBDC could look like. It asked for public comments on issues like potential risks and benefits a CBDC can have on the country. On April 20, the Fed released the responses in nine documents. Here are some of the various answers and concerns expressed by respondents, some of whom were named, others who were unnamed, as well as those whose names were redacted.

A student from Texas pointed to the breach of privacy, government overreach, and hacking as risks posed by CBDC. “With this digital currency, the government would be able to usurp freedoms without the knowledge/consent of the public.

“The best e-hackers and cybersecurity personnel don’t work for the government. They work in the private sector. It is naive to think, given the government’s track record, that it could ever be trusted to secure such an asset.” A CBDC might also trigger a “run on financial institutions,” the individual warned.

Andrew W. from Virginia warned that centralization of monetary policies can “easily be abused and cause unintended disruption.” CBDCs can further centralize monetary policies and “only increases the risk potential.”

Hollie Bishop from Indiana cited public mistrust as her number one concern about central bank digital currencies. “People are afraid of being constantly monitored. Also, our aging and elderly population pay bills in cash and may not know how to use this system, leaving them susceptible to hunger, bills not being paid, etc.”

Power Issues, Quantum Computing Hack

Lucas Vincent from Arizona warned that power consumption is a major issue. “The power consumption that provides the means of creating said digital currency, which has caused power outages in places like Kazakhstan and even New York, is an enormous risk that puts Earth at stake because of the environmental damage that digital currency mining causes,” he said.

Andy Garcia from Georgia notes that the dependence of CBDCs on electricity makes them vulnerable. “If the long-term goal is to get rid of paper currency, relying strictly on CBDC, the entire economic system will become vulnerable and susceptible to crippling cyber-attacks. There needs to be a fallback system that would work without electricity, much like paper currency does.”

Horacio Gasquet from Texas pointed out that with the advent of quantum computing, even the most sophisticated encryption algorithms can be cracked. As such, in order for a CBDC to be “truly secure,” the digital currency should be “rooted in quantum key encryption.”

A few of the comments highlighted purported benefits of CBDCs, like faster fund transfers and providing stability in case of hyperinflation.

Should the US Follow Other Nations?

The Fed asked, “How should decisions by other large economy nations to issue CBDCs influence the decision whether the United States should do so?”

An unnamed individual answered (pdf): “It should send warning signs to our country creating a CBDC. There’s a reason China implemented a CBDC, and it’s not for efficiency.”

Aaron Olszewski from New Hampshire also said, “A shift to a CBDC is a shift to push people away from using that nation’s currency.”

Brian Marshall from Idaho replied, “The United States should first worry about following the Constitution and preserving liberty, not trying to follow other countries in their descent into tyranny. Free markets will always provide the means to exchange one currency for another.”

JC Denton from California said that other nations adopting a CBDC does not mean the United States ought to do the same.

“Our financial purpose should be to focus on our own issues. If other nations wish to perform such actions, it is their choice. We don’t need to follow a bad idea just because other groups are doing it,” said Chad Rytting from Utah.

Phil Zobrist from Illinois said that the United States was “the standard” and it can remain so if “you maintain a strong dollar.”

Many of the respondents reacted negatively to the idea of the United States following other countries in adopting financial systems. A small minority voiced support for a CBDC, stating a goal of catching up to other nations.

The US Constitution

Many responses (pdf) to the Fed survey mentioned how the idea of a CBDC was antithetical to the U.S. Constitution.

When the Fed asked, “Should a CBDC be designed to maximize ease of use and acceptance at the point of sale?” Lawrence Raymond from Maryland replied, “No, because all transactions would become public, which goes against the freedoms outlined in the Constitution.”

When the Fed asked, “Could some or all of the potential benefits of a CBDC be better achieved in a different way?” Richard Hay from Texas said, “Yes, return to the constitutional definition of money, which is gold and silver.

“Fiat currencies continue to destroy the poor and middle class by endless expansion of debt and the money supply destroying the value of wages and savings of the vast majority of the population while enriching the owners of assets by driving asset prices higher via inflationary pressures caused by the expansion of credit. Our founders envisioned an honest monetary system.”

Hay added, “The CBDC would eventually be weaponized against political opponents and groups of people that differ from the beliefs of a centralized control governing system.”

Rodger Reed from California said: “Our economy must remain a function of the constitutional mandate created by the founders. By design, a CBDC does not serve the American people the way sound money does.”

When the Fed asked, “What additional potential benefits, policy considerations, or risks of a CBDC may exist that have not been raised in this paper?” Charles Dowling from Colorado said: “The people who are aware of reality do not respect the government whatsoever. And would probably not use your CBDC. And no one wants an illegal, unconstitutional government poking into their business.”

Privacy Concerns

During a recent speech in Washington, Federal Reserve Governor Michelle W. Bowman admitted that “safeguarding privacy is a top concern” with regard to the use of CBDCs. Bowman wants CBDCs to have enough protections to safeguard the privacy of customers and businesses while also being transparent enough to deter criminal activity.

“In thinking about the implications of CBDC and privacy, we must also consider the central role that money plays in our daily lives, and the risk that a CBDC would provide not only a window into but potentially an impediment to, the freedom Americans enjoy in choosing how money and resources are used and invested,” said Bowman.

“So, a central consideration must be how a potential U.S. CBDC could incorporate privacy considerations into its design, and what technology and policy options could support a robust privacy framework.”

An analysis by the Cato Institute warned that CBDCs pose a foundational threat to America’s economic systems. A U.S. CBDC will eventually “usurp” the private sector and endanger the core freedoms of American citizens, it said.

As such, CBDCs should have “no place” in the American economy, the institute stated. It called on Congress to “explicitly prohibit” the Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve from issuing CBDCs in any form.

Article cross-posted from our premium news partners at The Epoch Times.

Here’s another attempt with the help of Michael Snyder from The Economic Collapse Blog. We may be witnessing the birth of something I’ve been warning about for a while. It’s no secret that governments around the world, including the Biden-Harris regime, are plunging headlong into the freedom-killing quagmire of Central Bank Digital Currencies. But as I’ve noted, getting a bunch of CBDCs in play is only a step toward the end goal. I’ve been annoyed to read some journalists claiming CBDCs are the endgame. They are not.

A one-world currency that consolidates and centralizes CBDCs is the endgame, at least from a financial perspective. They don’t want a Digital Dollar, a Digital Yuan, a Digital Euro, and other digital currencies doing their own thing. They want everyone everywhere on the globe using the same Digital Enslavement Currency, and the International Monetary Fund may have just rolled it out in the form of Unicoin.

Read what Snyder says about it, then I’ll finish with some closing thoughts…

The IMF Has Just Unveiled a New Global Currency Known as the “Universal Monetary Unit” That Is Supposed to Revolutionize the World Economy

A new global currency just launched, but 99 percent of the global population has no idea what just happened.  The “Universal Monetary Unit”, also known as “Unicoin”, is an “international central bank digital currency” that has been designed to work in conjunction with all existing national currencies.  This should set off alarm bells for all of us, because the widespread adoption of a new “global currency” would be a giant step forward for the globalist agenda.  The IMF did not create this new currency, but it was unveiled at a major IMF gathering earlier this week…

Today, at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Spring Meetings 2023, the Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) announced their official launch of an international central bank digital currency (CBDC) that strengthens the monetary sovereignty of participating central banks and complies with the recent crypto assets policy recommendations proposed by the IMF.

Universal Monetary Unit (UMU), symbolized as ANSI Character, Ü, is legally a money commodity, can transact in any legal tender settlement currency, and functions like a CBDC to enforce banking regulations and to protect the financial integrity of the international banking system.

As the press release quoted above indicates, this new “Universal Monetary Unit” was created by the Digital Currency Monetary Authority.

So who in the world is the Digital Currency Monetary Authority?

Honestly, I had no idea until I started doing research for this article.

The press release says that the organization consists of “sovereign states, central banks, commercial and retail banks, and other financial institutions”…

The DCMA is a world leader in the advocacy of digital currency and monetary policy innovations for governments and central banks.  Membership within the DCMA consists of sovereign states, central banks, commercial and retail banks, and other financial institutions.

Basically, it sounds like a secretive cabal of international banks and national governments is conspiring to push this new currency down our throats.

We are being told that the “Universal Monetary Unit” is “‘Crypto 2.0”, and those that created it are hoping that it will be widely adopted by “all constituencies in a global economy”…

The DCMA introduces Universal Monetary Unit as Crypto 2.0 because it innovates a new wave of cryptographic technologies for realizing a digital currency public monetary system with a widespread adoption framework encompassing use cases for all constituencies in a global economy.

I don’t know about you, but this sounds super shady to me.

Of course the Digital Currency Monetary Authority is not the only one that has been working on a new digital currency.

The UK has also been working on one.

The same is true for the European Union.

And would it surprise anyone that the Biden administration is touting the potential benefits of a “digital form of the U.S. dollar”?  The following comes from the official White House website…

A United States central bank digital currency (CBDC) would be a digital form of the U.S. dollar. While the U.S. has not yet decided whether it will pursue a CBDC, the U.S. has been closely examining the implications of, and options for, issuing a CBDC. If the U.S. pursued a CBDC, there could be many possible benefits, such as facilitating efficient and low-cost transactions, fostering greater access to the financial system, boosting economic growth, and supporting the continued centrality of the U.S. within the international financial system.

I don’t think that it is a coincidence that governments all over the western world are simultaneously developing CBDCs.

And the IMF has actually already put together an extensive handbook “to assist central banks and governments throughout the world in their CBDC rollouts”…

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is putting together a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) handbook to assist central banks and governments throughout the world in their CBDC rollouts.

Published publicly on April 10, the “IMF Approach to Central Bank Digital Currency Capacity Development” report outlines the IMF’s multi-year strategy for aiding CBDC rollouts, including the development of a living “CBDC Handbook” for monetary authorities to follow.

A lot of people out there will cheer when these digital currencies are introduced.

But it is imperative to understand that once everyone is using them, your financial privacy will be almost totally gone.

Authorities will be able to track virtually everything that you buy and sell, and I am sure that they won’t hesitate to use that information against you.

Needless to say, the potential for tyranny in such a system is off the charts.

Can you imagine a world in which you are restricted from buying meat for a while because you have already used your “carbon credits” for the month?

Your “financial privileges” could potentially be restricted at any time at the whim of a government bureaucrat, and if you are a big enough troublemaker you could be “deplatformed” from the system permanently.

Of course in order for such a system to have real teeth, cash and other forms of payment will need to be phased out, and that is precisely what is happening right now in Europe.  The following comes from the official website of the European Parliament…

To restrict transactions in cash and crypto assets, MEPs want to cap payments that can be accepted by persons providing goods or services. They set limits up to €7000 for cash payments and €1000 for crypto-asset transfers, where the customer cannot be identified.

Ultimately, they will just keep lowering the limits until the use of cash is almost completely eliminated.

Everyone will be slowly but surely forced on to the new digital system, and it will be a system that they control with an iron fist.

And most people will willingly go along with it.  These days, most people are just scraping by from month to month and one recent survey found that 70 percent of all Americans are “financially stressed” at this point…

Inflation, economic instability and a lack of savings have an increasing number of Americans feeling financially stressed.

Some 70% of Americans admit to being stressed about their personal finances these days and a majority — 52% — of U.S. adults said their financial stress has increased since before the Covid-19 pandemic began in March 2020, according to a new CNBC Your Money Financial Confidence Survey conducted in partnership with Momentive.

Most Americans simply do not care that these new digital currencies could open a door for great tyranny.

They just want to be able to pay the bills and take care of their families, and if our politicians tell them that this new system is good for the economy they will be all for it.

But those of us that are awake know that more globalism doesn’t lead anywhere good.

Concentrating even more power in the hands of the international elite is always a bad idea, and hopefully we can start to get more people to understand this.

Michael’s new book entitled “End Times” is now available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can check out his new Substack newsletter right here.

Editor’s Commentary

Those who have been attempting to expose the machinations of the New World Order, the globalist elite cabal, the Liberal World Order, or whatever they’re calling themselves these days have long said that a one-world currency will be required in order for the powers-that-be to have complete control over us. Unicoin really could be it, and hopefully my readers are cognizant of the fact that I do not jump on conspiracy theories very easily.

With that said, this particular conspiracy “theory” is materializing as fact. This is why it’s imperative that we do everything in our power to accomplish two things. First, we must fight this in any way that we can and unfortunately I’m not sure how that manifests. I know that making people aware is an important part of fighting the good fight because we will need to reach a tipping point of awareness to have a chance, but even then I’m not sure how to stop it. That’s above my paygrade. All I know is that people must be told the truth.

Second, it behooves us all to start (if you haven’t started already) building and/or joining localized networks for alternative commerce. Make friends. Build alliances. Get to know farmers, ranchers, shop owners… anyone who isn’t part of the corporate financial infrastructure. Again, I do not know exactly what that will look like or if alt-economies are going to be effective anywhere, let alone everywhere. I just know that smarter people than me are talking about it too, so there’s a good chance it’s on the right track.

The most important consideration for Bible-believing Christians is that we must never let our faith be secondary to anything. Surviving and thriving in this world is important to many of us, but we cannot allow that to ever supersede our faith. No matter how bad things get in this world, it’s our place in the next world that should be our greatest consideration.

God Bless you all.

The IMF’s Spring Meetings this year saw the announcement of the organization’s own, “international central bank digital currency” called the Universal Monetary Unit (UMU, aka Unicoin).

The IMF said in a statement that UMU functions like a CBDC and is a legal and global money commodity. The purpose of this particular iteration of a CBDCs is to make sure banking regulations are enforced, as well as to protect “the financial integrity of the international banking system.”

This currency will be used by banks via SWIFT codes and bank accounts linked to a UMU digital wallet.

The scheme is supposed to allow for digital cross-border payments modeled after SWIFT, and promises best wholesale exchange rates of settlement currencies and real-time settlement, “while bypassing the correspondent banking system.”

At the same time, IMF officials are describing the current cross-border payment system as slow, expensive, and risky, while declaring that UMU’s goal is not disruption of the international monetary system – such as it is – but rather, to further “strengthen” it.

Not only that, but the IMF looks set on rebranding the term “crypto” – normally associated with decentralized digital currencies that leave central banks and governments out of the equation. “Crypto 2.0” is how the IMF would market UMU, and likely, CBCDs in general.

Meanwhile, critics of CBDCs are using strong words to express their opposition to the trend, with some calling it a path toward financial slavery that is always a handy companion to political tyranny.

More criticism has to do with CBDCs being seen as a way of introducing social credit scores and digital IDs, thus having individuals fully ceding to the government control over their own assets and/or the amount they spend.

Unlike cash and decentralized crypto, CBCDs are feared to spell the end of private financial affairs, and usher in even more surveillance by the authorities.

Article cross-posted from Reclaim The Net.

Greene was responding to news that the Fed was launching its own digital payment system. On Twitter, she shared an article from CNBC announcing that the payment system, “FedNow” would be launched in July.

“We should go back to the gold standard, not digital currency payment systems,” wrote Green on her Twitter account. “Hard pass.” (Related: Ron DeSantis to introduce legislation in Florida prohibiting the use of CBDCs in the state.)

Greene’s negative opinion of the Fed’s attempts to create a digital payment system, which they believe will pave the way for the eventual adoption of a CBDC, has been gaining traction among other members of Congress as well as their constituents.

Her statement also comes as many major economies around the world shift away from their reliance on the U.S. dollar and invest more in gold.

The U.S. only got off the gold standard in 1971, when former President Richard Nixon brought an end to the World War II-era Bretton Woods financial-economic system and transformed the international monetary system into a fiat-based one.

FedNow could give federal government control over how people spend their money

According to Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Tom Barkin, FedNow will create “a leading-edge payments system that is resilient, adaptive and accessible.” Barkin also serves as the program’s main executive sponsor.

The FedNow program will allow bill payments and money transfers such as paychecks and disbursements from the government. The FedNow program will also allow a whole host of other consumer activities that the Fed claims can be conducted more rapidly and at lower cost to the consumer.

The Fed further claimed that the FedNow system will be more convenient because participating institutions will have seven-day, 24-hour access to the system, as opposed to regular banking and payment systems that close on weekends.

The first participants of the FedNow program will complete a training and certification process by early April in preparation for the July launch.

“With the launch drawing near, we urge financial institutions and their industry partners to move full steam ahead with preparations to join the FedNow Service,” said Ken Montgomery, first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and another program executive of FedNow.

Other program advocates claim the FedNow system will be able to get money out to people much more quickly, including government handouts like the payments issued to most of the population in the early days of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

But critics of the program warn that FedNow could effectively give the federal government control over how people spend their money.

“A CBDC tied to digital ID and social credit score will allow the government to freeze your assets or limit your spending to approved vendors if you fail to comply with arbitrary diktats, i.e. vaccine mandates,” warned Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “CBDCs grease the slippery slope to financial slavery and political tyranny.”

“While cash transactions are anonymous, a CBDC will allow the government to surveil all our private financial affairs,” added Kennedy. “The central bank will have the power to enforce dollar limits on our transactions, restricting where you can send money, where you can spend it and when money expires.”

Watch this clip of Glenn Beck speaking with author Justin Haskins about how the Federal Reserve’s FedNow program will ultimately end with the introduction of a CBDC.

This video is from the channel High Hopes on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

• Tennessee passes bill authorizing state treasurer to buy, sell and stockpile gold and silver.
• Inflation remains a problem for middle- and lower-income Americans as Biden’s Federal Reserve keeps raising interest rates.
• State legislatures are sneakily introducing amendments to laws that would pave the way for CBDC domination.
• Demand for gold surges to highest rate in over a decade as world’s central banks continue buying spree.
• HYPOCRISY: Federal Reserve warns banks against using crypto while planning to develop its own digital currency.

Sources include:

• InfoWars.com
• Watcher.guru
• Cryptopolitan.com
• CNBC.com
• Brighteon.com
• NATURAL NEWS

• Three large banks failed in a single week in March 2023, and the ripple effect could easily take down the entire banking system. The cascading bank failures began March 8 with the shut down and liquidation of the crypto bank Silvergate Capital. It had invested deposits in Treasury bonds, which lost value as interest rates were hiked to stem inflation
• March 10, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) failed. It too was invested in government bonds, which again became a problem when customers began making large fear-based withdrawals. This was the second largest bank failure in U.S. history, and the largest since the financial crisis in 2008
• Spooked by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank customers withdrew more than $10 billion in the days that followed, resulting in the shutdown of Signature Bank on March 12
• Government regulators have promised to make customers of the two banks “whole” by insuring all funds, not just the first $250,000. Only select “too big to fail” banks will be eligible for this kind of special treatment. Small local banks will not be eligible
• The most likely outcome of this bailout system is a consolidation of banks until we’re left with just a small number of mega-banks. This consolidation, in turn, will facilitate the rollout of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), as the banking industry will be a tight-knit monopoly

Three large banks failed in a single week in March 2023, and the ripple effect could easily take down the entire banking system, although government officials insist the banking sector “remains strong” and that the problems faced by these banks “do not appear to be widespread.”¹

Cascading Domino of Bank Failures

The cascading bank failures began March 8 with the shut down and liquidation of the crypto bank Silvergate Capital.² As reported by Government Executive:³

“During 2022, Silvergate’s deposit base grew dramatically, almost doubling its assets to $210 billion. But the bank did not have either the administrative capacity or market demand to lend out all of the money, as banks normally do.

So, it invested the excess deposits in Treasury bonds and mortgage investment products. But the bond purchases became a problem as the Federal Reserve began to raise interest rates to address inflation.”

Two days later, March 10, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) — the 16th largest bank in the U.S.⁴ — failed. It too was invested in government bonds, which again became a problem when customers began making large fear-based withdrawals. This was the second largest bank failure in U.S. history, and the largest since the financial crisis in 2008.

Allegedly “spooked” by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank customers then withdrew more than $10 billion, resulting in the shutdown of Signature Bank on March 12, making it the third-largest bank failure in history.^5,6

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) took control of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature, and government regulators have promised to make all customers “whole” by insuring all funds, not just the first $250,000. In other words, government is bailing out the banking system yet again, on the taxpayers’ dime.

Within a week, Signature was bought up by Flagstar Bank, a subsidiary of New York Community Bancorp (one of the largest banks in the U.S.).⁷ According to the FDIC, anyone who had deposits at Signature Bank will automatically become a client of Flagstar Bank, except for crypto banking clients, as Signature’s digital banking business was not included in Flagstar’s bid.⁸

The FDIC is also left holding $11 billion-worth of “toxic waste debt” in the form of commercial real estate loans for rent-regulated buildings, as this debt portfolio was also rejected by Flagstar.⁹ The FDIC is still looking for a buyer for Silicon Valley Bank.

Is the US Banking System Really Sound?

President Joe Biden’s comments shortly after the three bank failures was that “Americans can have confidence that the banking system is safe” and that “Your deposits will be there when you need them.” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also insists the U.S. banking system “remains sound.”¹⁰

Should we believe them? Probably not. Within days of those statements, the contagion had already spread to Credit Suisse, the largest bank in Switzerland. After government initially stepped in to cover some of the losses, the Swiss banking giant was sold to the UBS Group.¹¹ The acquisition was announced March 19.

It’s hard to believe the ripple effects of bank failures of this magnitude can really be stopped. The question is, should we even try? As reported by Government Executive,¹² government has no obligation to step in and bail these banks out under current banking regulations.

What’s more, the biased bailout system now being put into place will virtually guarantee further bank consolidations and the widespread rollout of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). As reported by Newsweek March 16, 2023:¹³

“During a Senate Finance Committee hearing, Yellen was grilled by Oklahoma GOP Senator James Lankford over the Biden administration’s handling of the banking crisis, which saw the federal government offer a multibillion-dollar bailout to Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) after a bank run left it without enough cash to back up hundreds of millions of dollars of its clients’ deposits. Most of those deposits were not insured.

To address the crisis, U.S. bank regulators announced a plan last weekend to fully insure all deposits at SVB as well as the crypto-friendly Signature Bank.

This would cover all deposits above the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s insured limit of $250,000. Federal officials said the plan would be paid for by a special fee levied on all FDIC institutions.

While all banks would be required to pay for the plan, Yellen said under questioning Thursday that it would not apply to every bank. She said the federal government would extend the privilege only to troubled banks whose failure would have a profound impact on the U.S. financial system.

Uninsured deposits, Yellen said, would be covered only if a ‘failure to protect uninsured depositors would create systemic risk and significant economic and financial consequences,’ which would be decided by a supermajority of the FDIC’s board members, Yellen, and the President …

In further questioning, Lankford asked Yellen whether that policy’s implication would be that small banks would become less appealing to depositors with accounts exceeding the FDIC’s $250,000 insurance threshold …

Amid the sharp increase in bank mergers over the past decade, Lankford expressed concern that the trend could only accelerate under current policy, causing the U.S. banking system to become less resilient.

“I’m concerned you’re … encouraging anyone who has a large deposit at a community bank to [hear], ‘We’re not going to make you whole, but if you go to one of our preferred banks, we will make you whole,'” Lankford told Yellen. Yellen replied, ‘That’s certainly not something that we’re encouraging.'”

And yet that’s exactly what this policy will be encouraging. Actions speak louder than words, and in this case, the outcome of this policy is quite clear, regardless of what Yellen is saying.

To recap, the FDIC will only insure deposits up to $250,000 if your money is in a small bank, but if your money is in a big bank, uninsured deposits over that amount will be covered as well, should the bank fail.

Why Bank Crashes Will Facilitate CBDC Rollout

Adding insult to injury, while the system is clearly biased and won’t protect everyone, all banks (and hence account holders) will be forced to pay this “special fee” to the FDIC that will, supposedly, insure all these uninsured deposits at preferred banks.

The most likely outcome of this bailout system is a consolidation of banks until we’re left with just a small number of mega-banks. We’re already starting to see the early phases of this, with “the big three” — Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo — reporting¹⁴ a deposit spike in the wake of the SVB collapse and Yellen’s announcement that only certain preferred banks will be covered above FDIC insurance limits.

This consolidation, in turn, will facilitate the rollout of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), as the banking industry will be a very tight-knit monopoly. Let’s say there are only half a dozen banks in all of America. All they have to do is make the switch to CBDC as a group, and anyone with a bank account in America will be automatically trapped in the new system. As reported by News Punch:¹⁵

“What we are seeing is a push towards Global Government that is being camouflaged and cloaked in humanitarianism, multiculturalism, as well as manufactured threats such as global warming and pandemics in order to condition the population into accepting globalization and a One World Government.

In order for this to occur the elite are planning to create a global financial crisis the likes of which the world has never seen. Out of the ashes of this financial crisis will rise the phoenix of is a New International Economic Order. The public will be told that the new order is the only way to stabilize the world economy and save what little remains of their wealth …

People often ask why the globalist elite would collapse the world economy. Wouldn’t that mean they destroy their own wealth in the process? The answer is no. The elite have been consolidating their wealth in order to protect it for centuries … When the world financial system finally crashes the elite will be positioned to buy what’s left for pennies on the dollar.

Where does this leave the rest of the world financially? The answer is in bondage to a Techno-Communist World Governmental System led by the World Economic Forum in Davos and the hidden hands that control the public face of that cabal. If you pay attention now you can see that everything around you is being engineered towards this one goal …

The globalist elite are also forcing their vassal states to move towards centralizing currency in the form of a … CBDC, which by the way, is not currency at all – it is software designed as a tool of total social control … If they can cancel out your bank balance with a single keystroke, then you have no freedom, no autonomy. You are a slave …”

UCC Code Update Is Stealth Attempt to Steal Our Freedom

The fact that CBDCs are intended as financial shackles to control you within what amounts to an open-air prison is also noted by South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem¹⁶ in the Fox News interview above.

She highlights a proposed Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) update that seeks to redefine “currency” to exclude decentralized crypto currencies, effectively putting the government on the path to a CBDC monopoly. Noem vetoed the bill and is urging other states to reject it as well.

The UCC Code is a set of laws that govern commercial transactions in the U.S. While not a federal law, it’s a set of laws that states agree to adopt in a uniform fashion to facilitate interstate business. So, it appears they intend to begin the financial takeover by rolling out the CBDC on the state level first, and legislators who believe in freedom must denounce all such plans.

Government Bonds Are Now the ‘Toxic Asset’

According to News Punch,¹⁷ the destruction of Silicon Valley Bank was intentional. While I cannot vouch for that, it’s interesting to note that SVB was in relatively good shape before it went kaput overnight.

As explained by the Sovereign Research and Advisory Group in an article titled “If SVB Is Insolvent, So Is Everyone Else,”¹⁸ the 2008 banking crash occurred because Lehman Brothers and other banks had used depositors’ money to buy extremely risky no-money-down mortgage bonds.

While the economy was good, banks earned hefty profits from these toxic assets, but as soon as the economy downshifted, these toxic securities plunged in value and wiped them out.

This time, however, the toxic asset is not mortgages obtained by people with no job, income or history of paying their bills. No, this time, it’s U.S. government bonds that are sinking banks, and these bonds are supposed to be the safest investment there is. Sovereign Research and Advisory Group writes:¹⁹

“Silicon Valley Bank was no Lehman Brothers. Whereas Lehman bet almost ALL of its balance sheet on those risky mortgage bonds, SVB actually had a surprisingly conservative balance sheet.

According to the bank’s annual financial statements from December 31 of last year, SVB had $173 billion in customer deposits, yet “only” $74 billion in loans. I know this sounds ridiculous, but banks typically loan out MOST of their depositors’ money.

Wells Fargo, for example, recently reported $1.38 trillion in deposits. $955 billion of that is loaned out. That means Wells Fargo has made loans with nearly 70% of its customer’s money, while SVB had a more conservative ‘loan-to-deposit ratio’ of roughly 42%.

Point is, SVB did not fail because they were making a bunch of high-risk NINJA loans. Far from it. SVB failed because they parked the majority of their depositors’ money ($119.9 billion) in US GOVERNMENT BONDS. This is the really extraordinary part of this drama.

US government bonds are supposed to be the safest, most ‘risk free’ asset in the world. But that’s totally untrue, because even government bonds can lose value. And that’s exactly what happened.

Most of SVB’s portfolio was in long-term government bonds, like 10-year Treasury notes. And these have been extremely volatile. In March 2020, for example, interest rates were so low that the Treasury Department sold some 10-year Treasury notes at yields as low as 0.08%.

But interest rates have increased so much since then; last week the 10-year Treasury yield was more than 4%. And this is an enormous difference.

If you’re not terribly familiar with the bond market, one of the most important things to understand is that bonds lose value as interest rates rise. And this is what happened to Silicon Valley Bank.

SVB loaded up on long-term government bonds when interest rates were much lower; the average weighted yield in their bond portfolio, in fact, was just 1.78%. But interest rates have been rising rapidly. The same bonds that SVB bought 2-3 years ago at 1.78% now yield between 3.5% and 5%, meaning that SVB was sitting on steep losses.”

All Banks, Including the Fed, Are Likely Insolvent

According to the SVB’s 2022 annual report published January 19, 2023, they had $16 billion in capital and $15 billion in unrealized losses on their government bonds. So, they were ripe for a wipeout.²⁰

The problem is, if SVB, with its conservative loan-to-deposit ratio ended up insolvent due to government bonds tanking, then that likely means that everyone else is insolvent as well, including state and local governments, large corporations of all kinds, and the Federal Reserve. Anyone holding government bonds is sitting on huge losses as interest rates rise.

According to FDIC estimates, the unrealized losses of U.S. banks is approximately $650 billion and rising. Meanwhile, the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund (DIF), the fund that’s supposed to cover insured deposits (accounts up to $250,000), has a balance of just $128 billion.²¹ See the problem? What’s worse, the DIF money doesn’t just sit there. It too is invested — in U.S. government bonds! As noted by the Sovereign Research and Advisory Group:²²

“So even the FDIC is suffering unrealized losses in its insurance fund, which is supposed to bail out banks that fail from their unrealized losses. You can’t make this stuff up, it’s ridiculous!”

And it’s only going to get worse if the Federal Reserve continues to increase interest rates. The problem is, interest rates need to be raised to curtail runaway inflation, but if they go up, more banks will sink due to their holdings in government bonds.^23,24 There’s just no way out.

Add to this insurmountable problem the fact that President Biden’s 2024 budget will raise the federal debt to $50.7 trillion by the end of 2033. It’s currently $31.459 trillion.²⁵ That’s a staggering amount of debt.

From a household perspective, you have no choice but to file for bankruptcy once your income cannot even cover the interest payment on your debt, and that’s basically where we are on a national level. As noted by The Balance:²⁶

“Most creditors don’t worry about a nation’s debt, also known as ‘sovereign debt,’ until it’s more than 77% of gross domestic product (GDP). That’s the point at which added debt cuts into annual economic growth, according to the World Bank. At the end of the second quarter of 2021, the U.S. debt-to-GDP ratio was 125%. That’s much higher than the tipping point …”

Are You Prepared?

All of this is why it’s so important to prepare and become as independent as possible. The things we’ve taken for granted our entire lives may soon vanish, and what’s coming to replace them are not in your best interest unless you’re part of the globalist cabal that will exempt themselves from the slave system.

Becoming more resilient in the face of these changes could include moving cash into things that have a greater chance of withstanding inflation, such as precious metals (the actual metals, not the paper) and land, for example, and/or tradeable items. Shelf-stable foods may also be a wise investment, as could securing a private well or building a rain catchment system.

Also remember that artificial intelligence is the “beast” that drives the coming slave system. A formula created by the World Economic Forum’s philosophical guru, Yuval Noah Harari, describes the technocrats’ ever-growing ability to hack humans: B x C x D = AHH.²⁷

B stands for biological knowledge, C is computing power, D is data and AHH is the level of ability to hack a human being. AI needs massive amounts of up-to-the-minute data for the control system to work, so “starving the beast” also needs to be on your list.

That means eliminating apps and devices that collect your personal data, Google and Facebook being two of the biggest data miners. It also means rejecting CBDCs, as it’s not really a currency but a tool for population control, and digital identity, which will track everything you do, both online and in the real world, and will strip you of basic rights and freedoms based on your social credit score.

• ^{1, 7, 8, 10} Newsweek March 19, 2023
• ² Forbes March 8, 2023
• ^3, 12 Government Executive March 20, 2023
• ⁴ Bankrate.com March 21, 2023
• ⁵ FDIC March 12, 2023
• ⁶ CNBC March 13, 2023
• ⁹ Yahoo Finance March 21, 2023
• ¹¹ Bloomberg March 19, 2023
• ¹³ Newsweek March 16, 2023
• ¹⁴ CNN Business March 15, 2023
• ^15, 17 News Punch March 13, 2023
• ¹⁶ The Conservative Treehouse March 11, 2023
• ^{18, 19, 20, 21, 22} Sovereign Research and Advisory Group March 13, 2023
• ²³ Wall Street Journal March 20, 2023
• ²⁴ Houston Public Media March 19, 2023
• ²⁵ CNS News March 9, 2023
• ²⁶ The Balance Money October 4, 2022
• ²⁷ WEforum January 24, 2020

The latest bill is a second attempt by Cruz to stop the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC directly to individuals after he introduced a similar bill in March 2022.

Sens. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) are co-sponsors.

In a press release announcing the bill, Cruz noted that countries such as China are developing CBDCs that “omit the benefits and protections of cash, as well as the control and security of many existing digital cryptocurrencies,” adding that it is “more important than ever to ensure the United States’ digital currency policy protects financial privacy, maintains the dollar’s dominance, and cultivates innovation.”

The senator argued that CBDCs that fail to adhere to those principles risk allowing the central bank to “mobilize itself into a retail bank, collect personally identifiable information on users, and track their transactions indefinitely.”

He went on to note that CBDCs are issued and backed by a government entity and transactions are conducted through a centralized blockchain controlled by a single individual or entity, unlike decentralized digital currencies like bitcoin, which is one of the main advantages of using such cryptocurrencies.

Surveillance Fears

“Not only would this CBDC model centralize Americans’ financial information, leaving it vulnerable to attack, it could be used as direct surveillance tool into the private transactions of Americans,” he said.

Cruz also said the federal government has no authority to unilaterally establish a CBDC.

President Joe Biden signed an executive order in 2022 encouraging the Federal Reserve to explore and develop a CBDC for use in the United States. The order instructs the central bank to research, develop, and assess whether such a currency can be implemented in a way that “protects Americans’ interests” should it be deemed “in the national interest.”

In November, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York completed its first phase of a multiphase research effort dubbed “Project Cedar,” which examined how cross-border wholesale payments could be improved through the development of a blockchain-enabled wholesale CBDC prototype.

According to Fed officials, phase 1 proved to be a success and showed that blockchain-enabled cross-border payments can be “faster, simultaneous, and safer.”

Powell Says Fed Just ‘Experimenting’

In November, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and several large financial companies—including Citigroup Inc., HSBC, and Wells Fargo & Company—participated in a digital dollar pilot project with Mastercard and SWIFT.

That 12-week program tested a version of an interoperable digital money platform known as the regulated liability network (RLN) that operated exclusively in U.S. dollars and allowed commercial banks to issue “simulated digital money or ‘tokens’—representing the deposits of their own customers—and settle through simulated central bank reserves on a shared multi-entity distributed ledger.”

In a separate pilot project, the New York Fed’s innovation center worked with the Monetary Authority of Singapore to see how wholesale central bank digital currencies could “improve the efficiency of cross-border wholesale payments involving multiple currencies.”

Amid concerns over the Fed’s work on CBDCs, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said at a House Financial Services Committee hearing earlier in March that no decision has been made regarding whether a CBDC is warranted in the United States.

“We’re not at the stage of making any real decisions,” said Powell. “What we’re doing is experimenting in kind of early stage experimentation. How would this work? Does it work? What’s the best technology? What’s the most efficient?”

Cruz is not the only Republican official to raise concerns over the central bank’s work regarding CBDCs.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has called on state lawmakers to introduce legislation banning the digital dollar in Florida and urged other states to do the same.

Elsewhere, House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) has also introduced the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act to prohibit the Fed from issuing a CBDC for use in monetary policy (pdf).

Our premium content partners at The Epoch Times has contacted the Federal Reserve for comment.

Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0.