Congressman Warren Davidson Pushes to Criminalize CBDCs

Rep. Warren Davidson of Ohio has asked for the adoption of permissionless P2P currencies over central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). He went so far as to ask for a ban and criminalization of the latter.

United States representative for Ohio’s 8th congressional district Warren Davidson has urged his fellow lawmakers to adopt permissionless peer-to-peer money over central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). He has been known to be pro-cryptocurrency in the past, with the recent comments only furthering his position.

Warren Davidson Calls for Permissionless P2P Transactions

In his tweet, Davidson said that the “Federal Reserve is building the financial equivalent of the Death Star.” He described CBDCs as a tool that facilitates coercion and control and that they corrupt money in general.

As such, he called for Congress to bank and criminalize any effort to design, build, develop, test, or establish a CBDC.

In a later tweet, Davidson stated that money should not be programmable by a central authority and that sound money should facilitate permissionless peer-to-peer transactions.

The lawmaker also shared a screenshot of a job posting for a senior crypto architect that the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco had put up.

Davidson Pushes for Gary Gensler’s Removal, Opposes 30% Tax

Davidson has long been a proponent of cryptocurrencies. Earlier in the year, he said that Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chair Gary Gensler ought to be fired and even introduced legislation to remove Gensler from his position. He cited a “long series of abuses” as the motivation.

The SEC has been a thorn in the cryptocurrency market’s side over the past year. Their notable battle with Ripple recently concluded, with the crypto company largely emerging as a victor. Some critics claimed that the SEC spun the outcome to make it look positive for the agency.

In addition, Davidson voiced opposition to the 30% tax imposed on cryptocurrency miners. The tax was introduced as part of a $6.8 trillion budget proposal that was revealed in March 2023. Davidson is one of the few who opposed this, as other congressmen have, in general, stated that the crypto market was a major source of tax evasion.

The tax was to tackle the effect that crypto mining had on the environment. The industry lambasted the tax for various reasons. However, some states have moved in the same direction, with Texas approving a bill that would restrict Bitcoin miners’ operations. North Carolina also enacted a moratorium on crypto mining in April.