Former President and front-runner in the Republican leadership race, Donald Trump, promised to ban the creation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC) during an election campaign in New Hampshire.
“As your president, I will never allow the creation of a central bank digital currency,” Trump said on stage, joined by former pro-crypto candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. Who recently stopped his campaign.
He continued: “This would be a serious threat to freedom, and I will prevent him from coming to America.” “Such a currency would give the federal government absolute control over your money. They could take your money, and you wouldn’t even know it was gone.”
CBDCs are digital versions or token versions of cash that are issued and regulated by central banks that may or may not use blockchain as the underlying technology.
While there is currently no proposal from the Federal Reserve to introduce a central bank digital currency, this has not stopped it from becoming a hot-button issue in American politics, especially on the campaign trail.
Central bank digital currencies have emerged as one of the most important issues facing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ office, generating more public interest than usual issues like gun rights and abortion. CoinDesk was reported last May.
“If central bank digital currencies are as much of an infringement on our civil liberties as the majority of people believe, then we don’t have time to wait,” Samuel Armes, of the Florida Blockchain Business Association, said at the time. “The next day, if the feds want something, they’re going to try to get it. So our job is to try to stop it.”
ARMs and the Florida Blockchain Business Association helped draft Florida’s anti-Central Banking Cryptocurrency bill, which recently passed the state Senate.
In the November reportBank of America said that while central banks are exploring CBDCs globally, the Federal Reserve is unlikely to issue a US digital dollar in the near term.