- He thinks CBDCs are a big threat to freedom
- They would give the government full control of people’s money
During his campaign in New Hampshire, former US President and top Republican candidate Donald Trump promised to “never allow” the government to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC), CoinDesk reported.
He assured his supporters he would kill any effort to introduce such, joined onstage by pro-crypto former Republican candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who put an end to his campaign after ranking fourth in the race.
A big threat to freedom
Trump said CBDCs were a big threat to freedom and pledged to stop them from “coming to America.” He believes they would give the federal government full control of people’s money, the government could take it and people “wouldn’t even know it was gone.”
CBDCs are tokenized or digital versions of cash that central banks issue and regulate. Some run on the blockchain, while others do not.
Trump turned pro-crypto
Despite being critical of crypto in the past, Trump held ether worth over $2.5 million according to an August 2023 disclosure. In 2022 Parler, a controversial social media platform popular among US conservatives, announced the launch of an NFT collection based on Trump.
CBDCs are highly controversial
The Federal Reserve has not announced plans to introduce a CBDC and is not likely to do so soon. However, this hasn't stopped controversy from brewing.
CBDCs generate more public interest than abortion and gun control, it emerged last year. In May 2023, Samuel Armes of the Florida Blockchain Business Association said people didn’t “have time to wait” if CBDCs threatened civil liberties like most of the population believed. He warned that it was civil society’s job to stop the Feds from launching a CBDC.
What are Trump’s odds of getting elected?
Donald Trump emerged as the leading candidate despite bad publicity surrounding the US Capitol siege on January 6, 2021 and the lawsuits against him. He was banned from several social media platforms at the time, including Facebook and Instagram. According to 57% of Brits, he shouldn’t be allowed back on social media.
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