A fresh initiative aiming to permanently stop the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) is under progress in the US Congress. Reintroducing laws meant to stop federal banks from producing or distributing a digital dollar, Minnesota Representative Tom Emmer contends, is essential to safeguarding financial privacy.
Emmer initially presented this legislation in 2022; although the House of Representatives approved it in 2024, it ran into opposition in the Senate. Now he is resurrecting the idea in line with an executive order signed by former President Donald Trump in January, which momentarily forbade the US CBDC from being created. Emmer aims to embed this restriction in legislation to prevent future administrations from undoing it.
Renowned as the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act, the law aims to change the Federal Reserve Act, specifically forbidding the issuing of a digital dollar or any other comparable asset under another name. Emmer and his supporters fear that a government-owned digital currency could result in more monitoring and possible financial data exploitation.
Emmer said, “President Trump has already acted after realizing the hazards a digital dollar presents.” “It is now time to make this ban permanent and stop any future government from exploiting this technology against Americans.”
Although almost 100 Republican legislators support the measure, it is yet unknown if Congress will move it further. While some detractors worry a CBDC would allow the government undue influence over financial activities, others think a digital dollar would provide advantages including speedier and more effective payments.
Concurrent with this, debates on digital money and cryptocurrencies carry on at the highest levels of government. At the White House, President Trump is organizing a crypto summit whereby business leaders—including experts in artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies—will investigate the direction of digital assets in the US. While the meeting primarily focuses on general crypto regulations, the future of a digital dollar may also hold significance.
Other countries are ahead with their own CBDCs as the US muses over the direction of digital finance. The European Central Bank is actively investigating the release of a digital euro, while Israel just unveiled a preliminary design for a digital shekel. Although opinions on the matter are still split in the US, worldwide patterns show that digital currencies are progressively taking center stage in the financial scene.
