I talk about this at length in my book (happy to send a copy). The short version is in what you said “the government isn’t likely to want privacy.” So by promoting a privacy minded CBDC, people end up inadvertently promoting a CBDC.

Thank you for flagging it! I have it in my calendar to update the references in the tracker once it's official. However, Bulgaria will be added even sooner as the governor Dimitar Radev recently revealed that the Bulgarian government has been actively participating in CBDC research. (I expect to have entry live in the next few days)

The CBDC Tracker now has data on more than 145 different jurisdictions. https://cbdctracker.hrf.org/home

Yes, here it is: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/29/opinion/cryptocurrency-genius-clarity-stablecoin-digital-dollar.html

It’s incredibly disappointing that the Department of Justice has denied my FOIA request and appeal. President Biden requested a report on how to create CBDC legislation, but the folks currently in charge have decided this information should be hidden from the public. The issue dates back to 2022 when President Biden placed “the highest urgency on research and development efforts into the potential design and deployment options of a United States CBDC.” As part of this effort, President Biden instructed the Department of Justice to put together an “assessment of whether legislative changes would be necessary to issue a United States CBDC.” Yet, the report never saw the light of day. When it became clear that the report wasn't going to be published, I submitted a FOIA request and members of Congress wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland. Still, nothing. https://www.cato.org/blog/white-house-doj-keeps-cbdc-legislation-secret-cato-rep-hill-seek-answers I thought the change in administration might mean I would get the documents faster given how vocally opposed President Trump has been to CBDCs. Yet, instead, the request still ended in rejection. In explaining the rejection, the Department of Justice says releasing the information “would harm the interests” of the government. Given how the rise of CBDCs has increasingly become a public concern, the American people deserve to know what the Department of Justice and the White House think needs to be done to create a CBDC.

It is absolutely wrong for the New York Times to say a CBDC has "no risk of frozen funds." The Vietnamese government reportedly just froze 86 million accounts, the Russian government froze the accounts of Alexei Navalny and his allies, the Canadian government froze the accounts of the Freedom Convoy protests, the Nigerian government froze the accounts of people protesting policy brutality... Do I need to go on? And this is to say nothing of the fact that private providers often freeze accounts because they have been deputized as law enforcement.

Cosigned. This year was my first time in Lugano, and I'm already looking forward to the next visit.

Dang. Hello to the tons of new folks I met in Lugano and Prague! If you want all of my latest work directly in your inbox, check out my Substack. (And yes, there's no charge.) https://bankingbureau.substack.com/

ECB President Christine Lagarde said the “ECB’s climate and nature plan [extends to] the potential introduction of a digital euro.” She said the CBDC must be energy efficient “unlike certain crypto-assets, which often rely on energy-intensive mining infrastructures.” Find out more in the HRF CBDC Tracker. https://cbdctracker.hrf.org/home

Have you been looking for an hour-long live stream where three people explain in detail how the US government robbed people of their financial privacy with the Bank Secrecy Act? Well, you're in luck. That's exactly what will be happening today at 11 am Eastern. https://www.cato.org/events/fifty-five-years-bank-secrecy-act