Can digital dollars be as anonymous as cash? A pilot of e-Cash that’s as private as physical coins
Liam Tung, Contributing WriterMarch 29, 2022 A US House of Representatives bill is proposing a trial of digital dollars that would replicate the privacy and anonymity of physical currency such as coins and notes.
If passed, the ‘Electronic Currency And Secure Hardware Act” (ECASH Act)‘ would “direct the Secretary of the Treasury to develop and pilot digital dollar technologies that replicate the privacy-respecting features of physical cash.”
The ECASH Act “would promote greater financial inclusion, maximize consumer protection and data privacy, and advance U.S. efforts to develop and regulate digital assets,” according to an announcement by US representative Stephen Lynch, who introduced the bill.
Lynch says the ECASH Act would “complement and advance” the current research being undertaken by the Federal Reserve.
“By establishing a pilot program within Treasury for the development of an electronic U.S. Dollar, the ECASH Act will greatly complement and advance ongoing efforts undertaken by the Federal Reserve and President Biden to examine potential design and deployment options for a digital dollar. Importantly, this pilot program will also preserve a role in our financial system for smaller anonymous cash-like transactions which are currently transacted in physical dollars and which have seen a rapid decline in use,” he says.
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Ed:
This bill was introduced on March 28, 2022, in a previous session of Congress, but it did not receive a vote. Although this bill was not enacted, its provisions could have become law by being included in another bill. It is common for legislative text to be introduced concurrently in multiple bills (called companion bills), re-introduced in subsequent sessions of Congress in new bills, or added to larger bills (sometimes called omnibus bills). See https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/117/hr7231
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