Texas Senator Ted Cruz is proposing legislation to prevent the Federal Reserve from creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
CBDCs are the digital form of a country’s fiat money and unlike cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (), these assets are issued and backed by the government.
Cruz argues that the creation of the CBDC will centralize people’s financial data and leave their information vulnerable to attack. The senator the US government may also use the digital dollar as a surveillance tool to directly look into the private transactions of Americans.
“This bill goes a long way in making sure big government doesn’t attempt to centralize or control cryptocurrency and instead, allows it to thrive in the United States. We should be empowering entrepreneurs, enabling innovation, and increasing individual freedom—not stifling it.”
As the Biden administration looks into the possibility of introducing a CBDC, Cruz says the US government cannot unilaterally establish a central bank currency. The legislator first introduced the bill in 2022.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is also pushing back on the digital dollar. The local executive says he does not want to see his Florida use CBDC as a form of money. He is also calling on other states to adopt a similar stance on government-issued digital currency.
