為了以正確的方式開始新的一年，許多人都下了決心，從減肥到省錢。 新的一年是重新開始的好時機，所以也許國會也應該制定一些決議。
從控制聯準會到為加密貨幣的使用提供公平的競爭環境，有很多選擇可供選擇。 然而，為了避免一次設定太多目標的風險，國會今年應該努力推行以下五項改革。
首先，國會應正式規定聯準會無權推出央行數位貨幣（CBDC）。 聯準會最近發布的《世界末日之書》清楚地表明，聯準會常常依賴自己的自由裁量權，而不是國會的明確授權。 此外，聯準會官員的聲明同樣在發行 CBDC 的權力周圍保留了某種法律灰色地帶。
相關：儘管失敗，全球政策制定者仍在推動 CBDC
國會需要做的就是修改《聯邦儲備法》，明確規定聯準會不得創建 CBDC 或使用 CBDC 來實施貨幣政策。 這樣做並不妨礙研究 CBDC（正如一些政客所指責的那樣），並且這樣做為聯準會劃定了明確的界限。
其次，國會應該總體上限制聯準會的活動。 儘管法律要求聯準會在推出新措施時收回成本，但這是否會發生可能是一個懸而未決的問題。 例如，FedNow 的開發成本約為 5.45 億美元，但參與該計劃的價格保持在 0 美元。 就目前情況而言，這些成本是否以及如何收回仍是一個謎。
財政部對其「世界末日之書」的摘要。
為了解決這個問題，國會應該把注意力轉向1980年的《存款機構放鬆管制和貨幣控制法案》。雖然標題拗口，但只要修改法律，設定收回成本的具體時間框架，就可以解決這個問題。並要求第三方審核進行監督。
第三，國會應澄清「法定貨幣」一詞在實踐中的確切意義。 人們常常對這個術語感到困惑，並錯誤地認為
只要美元出現，其他人就
必須接受。
事實上，美元的法定貨幣地位僅表示其可以用於支付稅款、罰款和合約。
事實上，聯準會本身在其常見問題頁面上解決了這種困惑。
Congress could fix much of the issue by amending the law to add something as simple as “Legal tender status does not require private businesses, persons, or organizations to accept United States coins and currency as payments for goods and services.” Doing so would help clear up the confusion around the use of cash, cryptocurrency, foreign currency, and the like.
Fourth, Congress should prevent any agency from restricting the use of self-hosted wallets. Holding cryptocurrency in a self‐hosted wallet is merely the digital equivalent of holding physical cash in a traditional wallet. However, some government officials have not been happy with the limits on current financial surveillance and thus sought to intrude on this space. For example, shortly before Christmas in 2020, the Treasury Department published its infamous wallet rule that would have required the identification of self-hosted wallet users.
Rather than increase financial surveillance even further, Congress should make it clear that intervening on transactions between two parties requires a warrant. As Coin Center explained in response to the wallet rule, these types of intrusions present “a grave threat to personal privacy, Fourth Amendment rights against warrantless search, as well as a substantial threat to continued responsible innovation.”
Related: Expect new IRS crypto surveillance to come with a surge in confiscation
Fifthly, Congress should remove the laundry list of exceptions from the Right to Financial Privacy Act. Fans of cryptocurrency and advocates of civil liberties are likely excited when they learn of the Right to Financial Privacy Act in the United States. Where previous history effectively gave the green light for sweeping financial surveillance, this law was meant to establish that financial activity is indeed protected. Yet, the law was rendered largely useless because it includes a long list of exceptions.
Congress can fix this problem by striking the exceptions and leaving the rest of the law as it stands. Doing so would merely require that law enforcement and other government agencies seek a warrant for Americans’ financial records. It’s true that requiring a warrant would make it harder for law enforcement and other government agencies, but constitutional protections exist to protect American citizens from unchecked government power. Removing the exceptions from the Right to Financial Privacy Act is to put checks on that power.
These five reforms cover a great deal of ground. Preventing the unauthorized launch of a CBDC, reining in the Federal Reserve’s expansionary tendencies, clarifying legal tender applications, preventing restrictions on self-hosted wallets, and establishing financial privacy protections can certainly seem like a tall order. Yet each one of these goals is relatively simple to implement in the grand scheme of things. If Congress wishes to start the new year on the right foot, any of these reforms would be a great start.
尼古拉斯·安東尼 是卡托研究所貨幣與金融替代品中心的政策分析師。 他是《基礎設施投資和就業法案對加密貨幣的攻擊：質疑加密貨幣條款的基本原理》 和
《金融隱私權：在數位時代打造更好的金融隱私框架》 的作者。
本文僅供一般參考之用，無意也不應被視為法律或投資建議。 這裡表達的觀點、想法和意見僅代表作者個人觀點，不一定反映或代表Cointelegraph的觀點和意見。
