No notes, . This take is brilliant haha

Everyone who uses money needs the digital euro? Wild take from Bloomberg. To their credit, the authors acknowledge that electronic payments are widely available. So why? Why do people need a digital euro when they are already served by a wide array of options? And there it is: Control. The authors do well to be upfront about one risk of CBDCs. Although the only one they mention is the risk that a CBDC could undermine banks and so they propose restrictions on how much people can own. However, there are many other risks at play with few benefits to justify the cost. https://www.cato.org/visual-feature/risks-of-cbdcs Check out the full piece in Bloomberg below. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2025-07-31/digital-euro-everyone-who-uses-money-needs-tech-forward-currency

When protests erupted after the 2020 election of Alexander Lukashenko, the government detained thousands. In 2021, the government raided the offices of media outlets and froze the bank accounts of the Belarusian Association of Journalists. In that same year, Lukashenko gave the central bank “the right to prohibit the sale and purchase of currency or impose a tax on it and confiscate dollars and euros from the accounts of legal entities.” In 2023, news broke that the central bank was building a CBDC. Find my latest with the below. https://hrf.org/latest/tracking-cbdcs-before-they-track-you

Speaking on CBDCs, Representative Waters says anti-CBDC legislation must be stopped because "it's time for the US government to take charge" so "we don't have [cryptocurrency] or anything else without the federal government knowing and being in control."

Thank you to for the shout-out in the Oslo Freedom Forum report! https://hrf.org/latest/2025-off-recap-report/

"Then the question was, if we're going to build [a CBDC,] ... what's the most expansive powers Congress could give us? And then how do we design it in a way that can handle all of those expansive powers?" - Robert Bench, recalling his experience working on the Federal Reserve's CBDC project.

In hindsight, I don’t know what I expected

One small thing: if it's not too much trouble, would you mind looking over a draft of my FATF paper when it gets close to the finish line? It's still a ways off, but I'd love to get your perspective on it

I do find that aspect interesting!

Paul Krugman argues that the U.S. should adopt a "partial CBDC" and points to Brazil as the example to emulate. Specifically, he points to Pix. Has he really not heard of FedNow? He says the "financial industry just has too much power, and would never allow a public system to compete with its products." Again, has he really not heard of FedNow? Or for that matter, the Fed's check and ACH services? Frankly, it's also strange that Krugman criticizes concerns about CBDCs but makes no mention of the fact that Pix was forced on people. The government forced banks to adopt it. For anyone interested in what's happening with Brazil's actual CBDC work. The HRF CBDC Tracker has you covered. https://cbdctracker.hrf.org/home

I'll actually have a long report on FATF soon. But you're on to it in the end. After the Bank Secrecy Act was passed in the United States in 1970, the US government started "exporting" these laws to other jurisdictions. It wasn't long before it spread like a plague

Banks will be forced to use the digital ruble (Russia's CBDC) starting in September 2026. I guess nothing says "great product" quite like something you have to force people to use. https://cbdctracker.hrf.org/home

Representative Sherman decided to dedicate the GENIUS Act to the "ghost of Sam Bankman-Fried." This is Congress.

The fact that the state of Wyoming is trying to create a stablecoin is so bizarre but so fascinating. Here we have the state saying they don't have to comply with the _federal_ government while seemingly ignoring that they are a government body in and of themselves.

"The sense of urgency for [the digital euro] is increasing for ministers. So we agreed to speed up work and aim to find compromises on the remaining issues as soon as possible." https://www.consilium.europa.eu/it/press/press-releases/2025/05/12/remarks-by-paschal-donohoe-following-the-eurogroup-meeting-of-12-may-2025/

Slightly embarrassed to admit this, but there was about 4.2 seconds where I thought this alert said there was a liquidity problem with lightning

Although it has been able to get a few thousand people to use its CBDC, the Bank of Russia said it has been a challenge to “build citizens' trust in the digital national currency.” https://cbdctracker.hrf.org

It's going to be crazy when we find out the real reason the Fed is so expensive to renovate is that there are titans hidden in the walls.

Thank you for flagging it! I'm looking forward to tuning in. I have it queued up and ready for my commute home later this evening.