Former U.S President Donald Trump has promised to never allow the creation of a CBDC if he is elected to the Oval Office once again.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, currently in the running to contend for office again in the 2024 elections, has vowed to never allow the Federal Reserve to create a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). 

“As your president, I will never allow the creation of a Central Bank Digital Currency,” said Trump in a speech in New Hampshire on Wednesday. 

“Such a currency would give the federal government absolute control over your money. This would be a dangerous threat to freedom – and I will stop it from coming to America.”

President Trump just made a new promise in New Hampshire tonight & I have *full* confidence he will keep it:

“Tonight, I am also making another promise to protect Americans from government tyranny. As your president, I will never allow the creation of a Central Bank Digital… https://t.co/HRbgiUwX68

— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) January 18, 2024

Trump also promised that his administration would put strong protections in place to stop banks and regulators from trying to “de-bank” political beliefs. The speech comes hot on the heels of Trump’s victory in the Iowa primaries, where he scored a 30-point victory over Florida governor Ron DeSantis. 

The concept of a CBDC has been actively debated among central bankers across the world, and more recently, several countries have experimented with the launch of their own digital currency system. 

China has led the charge on this front, despite a blanket ban on citizens trading cryptocurrency. The digital yuan issued by the People’s Republic of China (PBOC) has been included in the central bank’s official measure of cash in circulation this year, and as of August 2022, the value of all digital yuan transactions has exceeded $15 billion.

At least 15 other countries have also launched a pilot of their own CBDC, including Singapore, India, South Korea and Switzerland, according to data from CBDC Tracker.