Representative Mooney Calls Out Fed ’s CBDC Pilots

Nicholas AnthonyLate last year, the Federal Reservecaught attention for its central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilot projects. Going beyond traditional research, the Federal Reserve contracted with the private sector to build potential CBDCs for the United States. As American Banker ’sJohn Adams reported at the time, “Even as debate in the U.S. rages over the utility of a digital dollar, work continues on the nuts and bolts of a potential American CBDC.”Therefore, with concerns about therisks of CBDCs high and the potential for such CBDC development to go awry, Representative Alex X. Mooney (R ‑WV)introduced a  bill to rein in the Federal Reserve’s discretion.TheDigital Dollar Pilot Prevention Act, or DDP Prevention Act, would establish that the Federal Reserve would need explicit congressional authority to set up a  CBDC pilot on its own or through a private sector contractor. The bill covers both the Federal Reserve board which would ultimately lead the charge on issuing a CBDC as well as the regional Federal Reserve banks that have thus far been conducting CBDC pilots. With that in mind, Representative Mo oney’s bill would help to stop a CBDC pilot from being quietly transitioned to the masses.The Federal Reserve recentlytempered some of its public statements on CBDCs, but one doesn ’t need to look far to see where other statements have given reason to be concerned. For example, former vice‐​chairLael Brainard testified before Congress in 2022 t...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs