​16% of Americans supported the issue of the digital dollar in the survey

What’s new? According to a survey by the Cato Institute, an overwhelming majority of Americans do not support the adoption of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Only 16% of respondents were in favor of the digital dollar, while 34% opposed its adoption. The remaining 49% of respondents were undecided on their position, which is likely due to the fact that only 28% of Americans are familiar with CBDCs and 72% are not.

Survey results

What else does the study say? Men are about twice as likely (22%) as women (11%) to support a CBDC. Black Americans are nearly three times as likely (32%) as white Americans (13%) to support the digital dollar, outnumbering support among Hispanic Americans (20%).

Younger Americans are about ten times as likely to support a CBDC as older Americans, with 32% of those under 30 compared to 25% of 30- to 44-year-olds, 8% of 45- to 64-year-olds, and 3% of those over 65. About half of all age groups do not have enough information to support or oppose the release of the digital dollar, yet about half of Americans over 55 oppose it.

Income level does not significantly influence support for a CBDC, with 19% of respondents with incomes under $20 000 a year and 21% with incomes over $100 000 in favor of the asset.

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This is evidenced by the results of a survey conducted by Clarify Capital among 254 respondents

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Most Americans oppose a CBDC if it means the government can control people’s spending (74%), monitor their transactions (68%), abolish physical cash (68%), attract cyberattacks (65%), impose taxes on those who do not spend money during recessions (64%), or freeze the digital bank accounts of political protesters (59%). At the same time, respondents would have little or no objection (52%) if the digital dollar would force private banks to stop using their services, leading to their closure.

Many of those surveyed would support issuing the digital dollar if it would reduce the risk of money laundering and fraud (42%) or ensure that social payments are used for their intended purpose (40%).

When it comes to a CBDC’s features, Americans favor avoiding additional costs (33%) and ensuring privacy (32%). Safer digital payments (25%) and ease of use (24%) are also important. Features such as instant transactions (15%), offline usability (13%), international usability (12%), and smartphone usability (11%) were less important, and 37% said none of these features were significant.

The most significant concerns about the digital dollar include the possibility of the government controlling people’s spending (66%) and monitoring their transactions (63%). Medium-priority concerns include government censorship (47%) and the abolition of cash (37%). Lower-priority concerns include crowding out private banks (13%) and disruption of monetary policy (13%).

In May, a ban on the use and testing of the digital dollar was approved by the authorities of the states of Florida and North Carolina, the senators of Texas also introduced their resolution to ban the asset. That same month, US House of Representatives members French Hill and Jake Auchincloss proposed banning the central bank from issuing the digital dollar because the asset could be used to spy on citizens. Earlier, politicians Ted Cruz and Kennedy Jr., the nephew of the 35th President of the United States, had made similar arguments against the release of the asset.