On Thursday, Republican representative Tom Emmer delivered the opening remarks at an event on the risks of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Speaking of the dangers of financial control at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank, the congressman referred to the digital dollar as “government-controlled, programmable money that can easily be weaponized into a surveillance tool”.
Mr. Emmer began his address by speaking of the potential for blockchain to restore control to the individual. “The next phase of the digital economy, the ownership economy,” he said, “consists of a trusted, immutable mechanism for transferring value in real time over the internet.” Cryptocurrencies, therefore, are presented as a tool to shift economic power away from centralized institutions and into the hands of American citizens.
By contrast, the congressman argued that the very nature of CBDCs stands against not only cryptocurrencies in general but also fundamental American values, such as privacy, individual sovereignty, and free markets. He worries that the digital dollar might be used to “choke out politically unpopular activity” and laments that the Biden administration seems “willing to trade Americans’ right to financial privacy for surveillance-style CBDC.”
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