Washington, D.C.- Senator Rick Scott (R-Fl) filed legislation today to prevent transactions with Chinese digital currencies from occurring on American soil or with American companies.
Senator Scott’s Chinese CBDC Prohibition Act would prohibit money services businesses (MSBs) from engaging in transactions involving any digital currencies issued by the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
MSBs are entities that transmit or convert money in transactions such as money orders, currency exchanges, or check cashing.
American MSBs do not currently offer services for digital Chinese currencies, but Scott’s bill would prevent them from doing so in the future.
Earlier last summer, China unveiled the ‘Yuan’, a new digital currency to facilitate domestic and international financial digital transactions.
Scott is worried about the potential weaponization of the Yuan to undermine American economic interests.
“Xi and his thugs have no business playing big brother to American citizens and how they spend their money,” stated Scott via X.
Xi and his thugs have no business playing big brother to American citizens and how they spend their money. That’s exactly why I am fighting to pass my Chinese CBDC Prohibition Act with @SenTedCruz and @MarshaBlackburn ⬇️ https://t.co/xqxbx1GoSX
— Rick Scott (@SenRickScott) November 9, 2023
“The digital Yuan is just another tool used by the Chinese Communist Party to spy on its people and all those who use it. It is an obvious power grab and an attempt to increase communist-state-control over people’s personal finances,” continued Scott through a press release.
Legislative attempts to counter China have risen exponentially. As of last April, Congress has reportedly filed over 250 bills on China in 2023 alone, a number that has only increased since then.
Last month, Senators Scott and Ted Cruz (R-TX) filed a bill to prevent the US from authorizing any International Monetary Fund (IMF) aid disbursement to China and other countries hostile to America.
At the state level, just earlier this week, Florida’s state government filed a resolution officially requesting the US State Department denounce China’s military activity in Cuba.
