U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) is among a group of senators who introduced legislation that would require new standards and guidelines for Chinaʻs digital currency, the digital yuan.
Blackburn said the digital yuan could allow countries like Russia to bypass specialized financial messaging systems such as SWIFT and empower China to violate the rights of their citizens.
Her bill, the Say No to the Silk Road Act, would require:
• the Department of State to issue a warning on the digital yuan;
• the Secretary of Commerce to report to relevant Congressional committees on the Blockchain-Base Service Network and provide recommendations related to the report;
• the Secretary of Commerce to report on trade enforcement actions with respect to the digital yuan;
• the United States Trade Representative to report on the effect of the digital yuan on trade and investment agreements;
• the Office of Management and Budget to develop standards and guidelines for agencies that transfer, store, or use digital yuan;
• and any foreign government that receives assistance through the Foreign Military Financing Program to disclose if the government uses digital yuan as a settlement or reserve currency.
“If left unchecked, technologies including China’s digital yuan will empower Russia to evade global sanctions on systems such as SWIFT and enable the CCP to further surveil and threaten their citizens. This legislation provides the United States with more information about the digital yuan to hold the new Axis of Evil to account,” Blackburn said.
U.S. Sens. Todd Young (R-IN), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), Mike Braun (R-IN), Rick Scott (R-FL), Bill Cassidy (R-LA), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), and Tommy Tuberville (R- AL) also sponsored the bill.
“China hopes its centralized digital currency and blockchain networks will provide new opportunities for financial surveillance and control,” Young said. “Our bill will take steps now to understand these risks and identify ways to protect the American people and the international financial system from this dystopian vision. Fostering American private sector innovation in digital finance is the solution, not Chinese Trojan horses.”