Although governments around the world seem to see central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) as the next step forward in the future of money, the American public appears to see CBDCs as a step backward. Of the 1,517 comment letters released by the Federal Reserve (Fed) thus far, 72 percent of the commenters called for the Fed to abandon its plans or expressed a negative opinion toward CBDCs (Figure 1).

A little housekeeping with the data reveals it may actually be 76% of commenters that oppose the idea of a CBDC (Figure 2). For instance, 46 of the comments were entirely blank and likely submitted in error. Also, there were 42 comments that appeared to be attempts by people in the private sector seeking government contracts. Removing both groups improves the view of what the general public is thinking.

A majority of the commenters were specifically concerned about the risk to financial privacy, the risk of financial oppression, and the risk of destabilizing the financial system.

In fact, over 300 commenters responded with “It can’t” or “It won’t” when the Fed asked––with its efforts to monitor for criminal activity in mind––whether privacy can be offered without anonymity. And many then expressed their concern that a CBDC would erase any semblance of what is left of financial privacy in the United States. Here are a few notable responses:

It can’t [offer privacy without anonymity], and you won’t anyway. This is the absolute reason why this is a bad idea. The “but illicit activities” excuse is too alluring, and you will end up using it en masse to review every little transaction of every American citizen. – Commenter #134

You cannot have both [privacy and surveillance]… It would be better to deal with the cause of the illicit financial activity as opposed to… attacking its financial medium of exchange because that happens to be same medium used in… 99% [of] legitimate uses. – Commenter #282

This is the catch… you can’t. Law enforcement should use other methods rather than tracking the flow of dollars explicitly. – Commenter #1117

There’s not a reasonable way to [offer privacy] with centralization. Using money as a weapon in a legal war over financial activity simply pushes users out of [the financial system]. – Commenter #554

Privacy without anonymity is an oxymoron. [A] CBDC will be used to cut off people from the financial system who the government doesn’t like, but who serve valuable roles in society at large. – Commenter #406

It’s not the Federal Reserve’s responsibility or directive to police individual actions. Invasive tracking controls will only keep people from adopting [it.] – Commenter #480

Out of all the concerns, the American Civil Liberty Union (ACLU) may have taken the most concise stance when it wrote, “Anonymity is not negotiable when it comes to digital cash.”

Although the Fed seems to have judged that just two paragraphs were enough to address financial privacy concerns in its CBDC discussion paper, the American people have much more to say. More is likely to be gained from a more detailed review of the comments, but Congress should take note that CBDCs are no longer the niche issue that they once were just a few years ago. In fact, Congress should require the Fed to directly address, among other things, the public’s concerns regarding what a CBDC means for financial privacy.