US senators want to ban apps that accept digital yuan payments. It will be national security.
Three US senators have proposed legislation to ban apps that support China’s digital currency, the digital yuan (e-Yuan or e-CNY). The main reason is the fear that the Chinese government might use this currency to spy on US citizens.
US senators want to ban apps that accept digital yuan payments
The bill is titled “Protect Americans from Authoritarian Digital Currencies Act”and calls for an outright ban on app stores, including the Google and Apple stores, from offering apps that accept Chinese digital currency transactions. This will include the popular instant messaging app WeChat, which announced support for e-CNY a few months ago.
The senators behind the proposal warn of the financial and oversight risks associated with this digital yuan. “The Chinese Communist Party’s digital yuan enables direct control and access to people’s digital lives,”Indiana Senator Mike Brown said in a statement. “We cannot allow this authoritarian regime to use its digital currency as a tool to infiltrate our economy and the personal information of our American citizens.” Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton echoed Mike Brown’s concerns, saying the digital currency will be used to “monitor and spy on anyone who uses it.””We cannot give China that chance, the United States must reject China’s attempt to undermine our economy to such a low level,”he added.
It will be national security
China’s digital currency has raised a number of security and privacy concerns. During the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Republican regulators warned US athletes about the situation, advising them not to use the digital yuan, saying it could be tracked by the central bank.
At the same time, China promised “controlled anonymity”that would allow users to remain anonymous in their transactions until “a certain point,”according to Mu Changchun, director of the Digital Currency Research Institute at the People’s Bank of China. US President Joe Biden, for his part, has said he supports the development of an American digital currency. In particular, he asked several agencies to analyze this topic and submit their reports before possibly proceeding with the creation of a digital currency.