HAM88-Senator Bill Hagerty on CBDCs, and Financial Surveillance - Hard Asset Money Show

In this hard-hitting episode of On The Record with Christian Briggs, Christian sits down with Tennessee Senator Bill Hagerty—senior member of the Senate Banking Committee—to unpack one of the most defining policy fights of the decade: the battle over central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) and the growing push for government-issued digital IDs. Together, they explore how these two emerging structures could fundamentally reshape the American relationship with money, privacy, and personal autonomy.
Christian begins by framing the stakes: while CBDCs are often marketed as “innovation,” they carry the potential to become the most powerful financial surveillance tool ever created. Senator Hagerty echoes that concern, pointing to repeated instances—such as Operation Chokepoint and politically motivated profiling by financial regulators—where government agencies have already shown a willingness to monitor and pressure institutions based on ideological lines.
The conversation centers on Hagerty’s legislation introduced on February 26, 2024: the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) Anti-Surveillance State Act. The bill prohibits the Federal Reserve from issuing a retail CBDC or running pilot programs without explicit authorization from Congress. More critically, it erects safeguards to ensure digital currency cannot be weaponized to track, score, or selectively restrict Americans’ economic behavior.
From there, Christian expands the discussion to a rapidly approaching companion technology: digital identity systems. In the United States, policymakers and federal agencies have begun exploring frameworks for national digital IDs tied to biometric verification, banking credentials, and government databases. While marketed as a way to streamline access and enhance security, critics warn that coupling a digital ID with a CBDC could grant government unprecedented insight into—and control over—citizens’ daily lives.
Senator Hagerty notes that the European Union provides a real-time case study. The EU’s rollout of the European Digital Identity Wallet aims to unify digital identification across all 27 member states—linking health records, financial data, travel credentials, and digital signatures into a single government-approved platform. On its own, the system raises questions about centralized control. When paired with the EU’s accelerated CBDC development through the Digital Euro project, the result could be a tightly integrated architecture capable of monitoring transactions, enforcing behavioral conditions, or limiting access based on compliance with government directives.
Christian and Hagerty warn that once such systems are normalized abroad, momentum often builds for similar frameworks in the United States.
By the end of the episode, one message is unmistakable: innovation must never become a Trojan horse for centralized surveillance. As Christian concludes, the future of money—and identity—must be built on freedom, not forced transparency.

Categories: Money

Starring: Christian Briggs