US lawmakers introduce bill to prevent digital dollar pilot program

U.S. lawmaker Alex Mooney has introduced a new bill, the Digital Dollar Pilot Prevention Act, which aims to ban the government from launching a pilot program to test central bank digital currency (CBDC) operability in the country.

The lawmaker’s website stated that the bill was explicitly developed to close the pilot program loophole. This means that the Federal Reserve would require authorization from Congress to implement a CBDC pilot program.

“This bill would prohibit the Federal Reserve from establishing, carrying out, or approving a program intended to test the practicability of issuing a CBDC.”

Congressman Mooney corroborated the sentiment, adding that CBDCs would threaten the liberties of law-abiding Americans and are used by authoritarian countries to crack down on dissenting voices.

Meanwhile, the bill has garnered support from 14 other Republican House members and several pro-crypto organizations like the Americans for Tax Reform and American Blockchain Initiative.

Anti-CBDC rhetoric grows

Since the beginning of the year, opposition to the digital dollar has grown, with several lawmakers like Senator Ted Cruz and Rep Tom Emmer vocal antagonists of the digital currency.

On Feb. 22, Congressman Tom Emmer introduced a bill to prevent the U.S. Federal Reserve from providing a CBDC to individual retail users. The lawmaker explicitly stated that the legislation prohibits the Fed from issuing a CBDC directly to anyone.

Additionally, several U.S. states, like Florida and North Carolina, have passed laws to ban the introduction of digital dollars or to prevent their issuance within their jurisdiction.

On March 20, Florida Governor and Presidential hopeful Ron Desantos described CBDCs as the government’s attempt to “weaponize” the financial sector. DeSantis reiterated his anti-CBDC stand in his presidential campaign launch while touting Bitcoin (BTC).

On the other hand, Senator Elizabeth Warren advocated for CBDCs, arguing that they could help solve issues within the banking industry since the government would back them. According to the lawmaker, the problems in the banking industry could be solved with a CBDC.

Despite these conflicting views, the Federal Reserve has stated on its website that “It has made no decision on issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and would only proceed with issuing a CBDC with an authorizing law.”

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