As potential candidates fine-tune their platforms in anticipation of 2024 presidential campaigns, Robert F. Kennedy Jr jumped on board the CBDC hate train last week to join Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Kennedy, who’s filed papers to run as a Democrat in the upcoming presidential election, rang warning bells on Twitter, appearing to lump the launch of FedNow with that of a central bank digital currency, also known as a CBDC, which he said would “grease the slippery slope to financial slavery and political tyranny.” His comments parallel those of several Republican lawmakers that have skewered CBDCs as an affront to financial privacy rights or potentially prone to restricting everyday purchases, bringing a bipartisan tinge to an issue that’s been largely publicized by conservative voices.

The Federal Reserve issued clarity on its upcoming launch of FedNow days later, setting the record straight in an updated section of its FAQs page. The Fed claimed it is not launching a CBDC when its FedNow payments service is expected to come online in July. It said the system for instant settlement between financial institutions isn’t a replacement for cash either.

A central bank digital currency is similar to a stablecoin—they are both digital assets that are pegged to a sovereign currency like the U.S. dollar. However, instead of being issued by private companies on decentralized networks like stablecoins are, CBDCs are issued and managed by their respective governments or central banks.

Though the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco posted a job opening seeking CBDC designers and developers in February, the Fed also reaffirmed it “has made no decision on issuing a central bank digital currency.”

Kennedy’s concerns align with those of Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who railed against the notion of a CBDC in the Sunshine State last month. He speculated the technology could be used to curtail firearm purchases or limit gasoline sales as he introduced a ban on CBDCs—from any country—to the state’s legislature.

The technology has been condemned as antithetical to crypto’s founding principles by comparatively liberal voices as well, such as NSA consultant turned whistleblower Edward Snowden, who dubbed CBDCs “a cryptofascist currency” back in 2021. Other Republican lawmakers raised notable concerns about CBDCs prior to DeSantis, including Republican House Majority Whip Tom Emmer and South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, who took issue with amendments to the state’s Uniform Commercial Code (UCC).

UCC is a set of state-level business laws that provide default rules for structuring certain transactions, such as the sale of goods or lending arrangements. Noem claimed an amendment would exclude cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin from being defined as money while granting CBDCs the same status as the greenback.

Touching on DeSantis’s proposed legislation, banning CBDCs from Florida’s UCC wouldn’t actually prevent people from using the technology but rather make CBDCs subject to common law rules, which courts in Florida have applied to digital currencies in the past already, Reyes said.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, and several other Republicans have voiced their concerns about Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) as potential candidates prepare for the 2024 presidential campaigns. They believe CBDCs will reduce financial privacy rights, limit everyday purchases, and create a slippery slope towards financial slavery and political tyranny. The Federal Reserve has clarified that its upcoming FedNow payments service is neither a form of currency nor a step towards eliminating cash. UCC amendments were proposed to distinguish between cryptocurrencies and sovereign-backed money, but these amendments do not have the power to ban anything. #CBDC #FedNow #CryptoFascist #FinancialSlavery #PoliticalTyranny

You can read more about this topic here: Decrypt: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Joins Ron DeSantis in Railing Against CBDCs

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