Republican Senator Ted Cruz has introduced a bill to block the United States Federal Reserve from launching a “direct-to-consumer” central bank digital currency (CBDC). In a March 21 statement, Cruz said he introduced the bill to prevent the Fed from developing a retail CBDC “which could be used as a financial surveillance tool by the federal government.” Cruz stated it’s “more important than ever” to ensure U.S. policy on digital currencies protects “financial privacy, maintain’s the dollar’s dominance and cultivates innovation,” and added: “CBDCs that fail to adhere to these three basic principles could enable an entity like the Federal Reserve to mobilize itself into a retail bank, collect personally identifiable information on users, and track their transactions indefinitely.” (Cointelegraph)