CBDCs Are Aimed at Tracking Purchases and Controlling Our Money: US Congresswoman

Former presidential candidate and political commentator Tulsi Gabbard is taking a stand against the Biden administration’s plans to develop a central bank digital currency (CBDC) in the United States.

The former congresswoman argued on Sunday that CBDCs will be used as tools of mass financial control that “undermine our independence and our freedom.”

Stand up against a cashless society

in tweet Released over the weekend, Gabbard stated that the federal government has already begun implementing its CBDC project, which will “create a cashless society where every transaction we make is tracked, monitored and controlled.”

“To protect our freedom, we must all stand together in rejecting this effort to establish a digital, cashless society,” Gabbard wrote.

A central bank digital currency is a new form of digital money issued directly by a central bank to retail customers, rather than through commercial banks. Supporters argue that it could serve as a safer and more efficient means of payment and transfer, to provide “The central bank’s safe responsibility in the digital financial ecosystem,” according to Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Lyle Brainard.

BIS report in May 2022 Proposal That 90% of central banks were already exploring the possibility of issuing a central bank digital currency, and that more than half of them were already developing such technology. This includes the US after President Biden placed the “highest degree of urgency” on potential US CBDC research as part of his executive order on cryptocurrency in March last year.

Both House and Senate Republicans – including you Tom EmmerAnd Ted Cruz, and others — have consistently opposed CBDCs for their potential use to eliminate cash and strip consumers of their privacy. Gabbard – a former member of the Democratic Party – echoed that view on Monday, saying V interview CBDCs are about “government-sanctioned surveillance and oversight.”

“It’s about their ability to keep track of everything we buy,” she said, “whether it’s a piece of gum, a car, or anything in between.”

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell He said In September, the CBD said that, if implemented, it would protect the privacy of transactions, but still verify the identities of its users.

FedNow vs. CBDCs

The former congresswoman added that the Fed’s new FedNow service — a 24/7 real-time payments service for depository institutions — is the first step toward central bank currencies. However, the Central Bank published a statement Friday explains that FedNow is not associated with digital currency and is not intended to replace cash, and is more comparable to existing services such as Fedwire and FedACH.

Former European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde I confess That innovation in the field of payments – particularly in the form of CBDCs – will be essential to ensure that central banks do not become irrelevant. On the contrary, it has eviction Standard decentralized cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are “highly speculative assets” that lack any future.

Gabbard is reported to have invest In cryptocurrencies in the past, both Ether and Litecoin were bought at the peak of the bull market in December 2017.