Former presidential candidate and political commentator Tulsi Gabbard is taking a stand against the Biden administration’s plans to develop a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in the United States.
The ex-congresswoman argued on Sunday that CBDCs will be used as tools of mass financial surveillance that “undermine our autonomy and freedom.”
Standing Against a Cashless Society
In a tweet released over the weekend, Gabbard said that the federal government has already begun to implement its CBDC project, which will “bring about a cashless society where every transaction we make is tracked, monitored, and controlled.”
“To protect our freedom, we must all stand together in rejecting this effort to institute a digital cashless society,” wrote Gabbard.
A CBDC is a new form of digital money issued directly by a central bank to retail customers, rather than through commercial banks. Proponents argue that it could serve as a more secure and efficient means of payment and remittance, providing a “safe central bank liability in the digital financial ecosystem,” according to Federal Reserve Vice Chair Lael Brainard.
A BIS report in May 2022 suggested that 90% of central banks were already exploring the potential issuance of a CBDC, with over half of them already developing such a technology. That includes the United States after President Biden placed “the highest urgency” on potential US CBDC research as part of his crypto executive order in March of last year.
