U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio (R-FL), Tom Cotton (R-AR), and Mike Braun (R-IN) recently introduced the Defending Americans from Authoritarian Digital Currencies Act, which seeks to prohibit domestic app platforms from using the Chinese Communist Party’s digital yuan (e-CNY) or hosting apps enabling e-CNY transactions.
“It makes no sense to tie ourselves to the digital currency of a genocidal regime that hates us and wants to replace us on the world stage,” Rubio said. “This is a major financial and surveillance risk that the United States cannot afford to make.”
Cotton said the Chinese Communist Party will use its digital currency to control and spy on anyone who uses it.
“We can’t give China that chance—the United States should reject China’s attempt to undermine our economy at its most basic level,” he said.
According to Braun, the Chinese Communist Party’s digital yuan allows direct control and access to the financial lives of individuals.
“We cannot allow this authoritarian regime to use their state-controlled digital currency as an instrument to infiltrate our economy and the private information of American citizens,” Braun said.