FinCEN is busy telling banks how to comply with the law while it is actively breaking the law. https://www.cato.org/blog/reporting-fincens-suspicious-activity-2026-edition
Nick Anthony
EconWithNick@verified-nostr.com
npub1n2m8...gflr
Research Fellow at the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives and Fellow at the Human Rights Foundation. Covering CBDCs, financial privacy, and cryptocurrency. Opinions are my own.
The Fourth Amendment does not expire with inflation.
It does not pause at the border.
And it does not bend to whichever crisis the government invokes this decade.
It’s time for Americans to know that the Bank Secrecy Act is really the Bank Surveillance Act.
Did I hold up the Constitution to Congress? Yes.
Did I reference the Grateful Dead? Also, yes.
Very pleased to share that I'll be testifying before Congress this Thursday on how the Bank Secrecy Act has failed!
Never a dull moment at Pubkey
No, this is not an April Fool's Day joke. This list really is everything policymakers claim a CBDC will do.
https://www.cato.org/blog/cbdcs-cant-give-you-everything-everywhere-all-once
https://www.cato.org/blog/cbdcs-cant-give-you-everything-everywhere-all-once
What should be done about stablecoins? The Reserve Bank of India says governments need to promote CBDCs.
He says CBDCs are superior... as long as you assume every other country also has a CBDC.
Your bank may soon call asking you to prove your citizenship if this executive order goes through.
https://www.cato.org/blog/know-citizenship-says-trump-banks
Responding to my work, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says, "I don't read the Cato Institute, but I do believe in financial surveillance"
Step 1: Campaign against CBDCs
Step 2: Become President and issue an EO against CBDCs
Step 3: Nominate the one pro-CBDC candidate, Kevin Warsh, for Federal Reserve Chair?
Trump really is the president of contradictions.
The ECB isn't hiding it. Europeans will be forced to use the digital euro.
We've all seen Brian Armstrong set the record straight at the World Economic Forum when the Banque de France governor said he doesn't trust the company running bitcoin.
But did you know that's not the only thing the governor got wrong?
https://www.cato.org/blog/french-central-bank-wrong
Villeroy de Galhau also tried to appeal to history by pointing to the experience of free banking in the United States. He described this era as suffering from “many crises of confidence.”
He did so in an attempt to undermine trust in private money, but the only trust undermined here should be that in governments.
What he didn’t say is that crises occurred during this period in large part because of the laws and regulations in place that made banks unstable.
My colleague, George Selgin, has gone to great lengths to correct this record. The general public may be forgiven for not knowing this history, but central bankers have no excuse.
Villeroy de Galhau then said gold was a “sovereign asset” governed by the state. However, this claim is similarly misleading. The use of gold as money predates legal tender laws.
Villeroy de Galhau took this opportunity to also say that CBDCs are the next evolution of money. If CBDCs are an “evolution” of anything, they reflect the evolution of state control over monetary systems—not a natural progression arising from the market.
Turning away from the forum, Villeroy de Galhau also mentioned his support for CBDCs in his “New Year’s address.”
Curiously, he said, “2026 will see the first central bank digital currency.” Taken as written, this statement is wrong.
The first CBDC was arguably created in 1992. That project died, but CBDCs have seen a resurgence.
China, India, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Russia, The Bahamas, and others have all launched CBDCs in one form or another.
So, in the first 21 days of 2026, the Banque de France governor managed to get it wrong on Bitcoin, US history, gold, and CBDCs.
That track record is almost as bad as central banks managing inflation.
Secretary Scott Bessent is building a legacy of financial surveillance and control. The announcement that he is stopping Americans from sending their money abroad and increasing surveillance under the Bank Secrecy Act should be condemned.
Yet, it should be no surprise.
Yet, it should be no surprise. It was only just last year that Secretary Bessent increased financial surveillance to target transactions as little as $200. After being sued for this violation of fundamental freedoms, he responded by expanding surveillance to cover even more Americans.
This playbook has been used time after time. When the Bank Secrecy Act was first passed, Congress claimed Americans were hiding money in Swiss bank accounts. Then it was expanded to fight the war on drugs. Then it was expanded again for the war on terror. Now it seems it’s the war on fraud.
Fighting crime is a worthy endeavor. However, we cannot sacrifice the freedoms that make America great in the process.
@HRF asked me to share one of my favorite freedom tech projects. Here's what I had to say about @vexl 😎
While I was limited to just one, I also have to give shout-outs to Skot building Bitaxe, @calle building Cashu, and many more.
The policy front may be depressing at times, but the people building solutions on the ground give me hope.
See what everyone else on the HRF Freedom Tech Team had to say here. 
While I was limited to just one, I also have to give shout-outs to Skot building Bitaxe, @calle building Cashu, and many more.
The policy front may be depressing at times, but the people building solutions on the ground give me hope.
See what everyone else on the HRF Freedom Tech Team had to say here. Human Rights Foundation
Top 15 Freedom Tech Projects of 2025
Looking back on 2025, financial and digital repression under authoritarian regimes continued to grow. But so did the innovation pushing back agains...
I guess there are no days off. The latest in ECB CBDC marketing is a Christmas post from president Christine Lagarde.
To be honest, I would have preferred coal, but here we are... so let me put down the eggnog and break down what's happening here. 
As she noted, the EU Governing Council has given the green light for the digital euro (the ECB's CBDC). In short, the Council said that the digital euro should work both online and offline, have holding limits, allow a "high degree of privacy" while still being AML/KYC compliant, and be free for consumers to use.
This green light from the council does not mean, however, that the digital euro will be launched. Now it's up to the European Parliament to weigh in.
Sadly, though, this process might appear democratic from the outside, but it's really just a formality. It's unlikely that Parliament will alter the course.
As @Efrat Fenigson noted on X, the ECB is just waiting for the Parliament's rubber stamp to move forward.
As CBDC marketing ramps up, it's important to be vigiliant (even on holidays).
As I've noted repeatedly, the ECB's marketing campaign borders on false advertising when it comes to claims about competition and freedom.
https://www.cato.org/blog/digital-euro-isnt-about-freedom
2026 is going to be an eventful year on the CBDC front. And as always, you can find out everything you need to know in the @HRF CBDC Tracker.
As she noted, the EU Governing Council has given the green light for the digital euro (the ECB's CBDC). In short, the Council said that the digital euro should work both online and offline, have holding limits, allow a "high degree of privacy" while still being AML/KYC compliant, and be free for consumers to use.
This green light from the council does not mean, however, that the digital euro will be launched. Now it's up to the European Parliament to weigh in.
Sadly, though, this process might appear democratic from the outside, but it's really just a formality. It's unlikely that Parliament will alter the course.
As @Efrat Fenigson noted on X, the ECB is just waiting for the Parliament's rubber stamp to move forward.
As CBDC marketing ramps up, it's important to be vigiliant (even on holidays).
As I've noted repeatedly, the ECB's marketing campaign borders on false advertising when it comes to claims about competition and freedom.
https://www.cato.org/blog/digital-euro-isnt-about-freedom
2026 is going to be an eventful year on the CBDC front. And as always, you can find out everything you need to know in the @HRF CBDC Tracker.
CBDC Tracker
A CBDC is a digital national currency. In the case of the United States, a CBDC would be a digital form of the U.S. dollar whereas, in Nigeria, the...
Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but saying "anyone who opposes the digital euro" is effectively an enemy of the state does not exactly inspire confidence that the CBDC won't be abused. 
Finally, on the last day of the Africa Bitcoin Conference, I've saved the worst CBDC experience in Africa for last: Nigeria.
In the words of the Central Bank of Nigeria, the CBDC experience has not been a "rosy story."
The central bank launched the eNaira in 2021, and it's basically been downhill since then.
Initial adoption was stuck at just 0.5 percent. The central bank lowered the requirements for access and introduced discounts in response, but people still preferred cash over the CBDC.
With adoption still struggling, Central Bank of Nigeria deputy governor Kingsley Obiora said that all the eNaira needs is a “a little push from the government.”
That's when the central bank suddenly announced it was taking cash out of circulation. After lines turned to protests and then riots, the central bank described the eNaira as a "success" after adoption went from 0.5% to 6%. 
Even the IMF admit the CBDC has largely been a failure. In a 2023 study, the IMF found that 98.5 percent of the wallets issued have never been used.
And that's to say nothing of all the complaints on the app stores. 
The eNaira has largely fallen apart at this point. Speaking in Ghana a few weeks ago, one Central Bank of Nigeria official said that Nigerians were not interested in the CBDC, the central bank was not prepared to be a retail bank, and the market was already providing solutions.
I've only just skimmed the surface, so be sure to check out the @HRF CBDC Tracker to learn more about what's happening in Africa, Europe, Asia, and elsewhere.
Initial adoption was stuck at just 0.5 percent. The central bank lowered the requirements for access and introduced discounts in response, but people still preferred cash over the CBDC.
With adoption still struggling, Central Bank of Nigeria deputy governor Kingsley Obiora said that all the eNaira needs is a “a little push from the government.”
That's when the central bank suddenly announced it was taking cash out of circulation. After lines turned to protests and then riots, the central bank described the eNaira as a "success" after adoption went from 0.5% to 6%. Nigerians’ Rejection of Their CBDC Is a Cautionary Tale for Other Countries
Nigerians are protesting their country's CBDC and demanding renewed access to paper money, despite government incentives to use the digital currency.
X (formerly Twitter)
Nick Anthony (@EconWithNick) on X
Just look at the state of the negative reviews on the wallet app for Nigeria's CBDC...
CBDC Tracker
A CBDC is a digital national currency. In the case of the United States, a CBDC would be a digital form of the U.S. dollar whereas, in Nigeria, the...
While discussing the Bank Secrecy Act, Representative Patman said the quiet part out loud.
He congratulated the Treasury for going "rather far" and "making a long step here" to establish capital controls. The Treasury quickly shot back saying not to call it that. 
Governments force banks to report your activity, judge whether you are being suspicious, and close your accounts when you step out of the norm.
How? It dates back to 1970.
President Richard Nixon had not yet been caught surveilling his political opponents. Instead, Oct. 26, 1970 marks when Nixon signed the Bank Secrecy Act and set the foundation for a new regime of financial surveillance.
Often abbreviated as “the BSA,” the Bank Secrecy Act was originally enacted over fears that the rise of air travel in the late 1960s would lead to Americans hiding their money in Swiss bank accounts.
As the times changed, so did the concerns. Congress initially targeted tax evaders, but the Bank Secrecy Act was later expanded to also go after drug traffickers. Later, it would be expanded again to go after terrorists.
Most recently, Congress has been weighing where and how to apply it to cryptocurrencies.
https://www.cato.org/blog/warren-misses-details-bank-secrecy-act
Yet, it hasn’t just been the targets that have changed. Congress has also steadily expanded who must report their customers under this regime.
Even the @USPS and pawn shops are defined as "financial institutions" here.
This ever-growing list of both targets and informants is partly why more than 27.5 million reports were filed on customers last year. https://www.cato.org/blog/reporting-fincens-suspicious-activity-again
Congress has prioritized ever-increasing financial surveillance over protections for people’s privacy for 55 years now. It’s time for that to change.
It’s time to respect financial privacy and stop treating ever-expanding surveillance as the norm. Reform needs to happen before the Bank Secrecy Act gets to celebrate its next big milestone.
For more on how, check out my latest in @CoinDesk
55 Years of Financial Surveillance
Reform needs to happen before the Bank Secrecy Act gets to celebrate its next big milestone, argues Nicholas Anthony, a policy analyst at the Cato ...
55 Years of Financial Surveillance
Reform needs to happen before the Bank Secrecy Act gets to celebrate its next big milestone, argues Nicholas Anthony, a policy analyst at the Cato ...
It’s incredibly disappointing that the Department of Justice has denied my FOIA request and appeal.
President Biden requested a report on how to create CBDC legislation, but the folks currently in charge have decided this information should be hidden from the public.
The issue dates back to 2022 when President Biden placed “the highest urgency on research and development efforts into the potential design and deployment options of a United States CBDC.” As part of this effort, President Biden instructed the Department of Justice to put together an “assessment of whether legislative changes would be necessary to issue a United States CBDC.”
Yet, the report never saw the light of day.
When it became clear that the report wasn't going to be published, I submitted a FOIA request and members of Congress wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland. Still, nothing.
https://www.cato.org/blog/white-house-doj-keeps-cbdc-legislation-secret-cato-rep-hill-seek-answers
I thought the change in administration might mean I would get the documents faster given how vocally opposed President Trump has been to CBDCs.
Yet, instead, the request still ended in rejection.
In explaining the rejection, the Department of Justice says releasing the information “would harm the interests” of the government.
Given how the rise of CBDCs has increasingly become a public concern, the American people deserve to know what the Department of Justice and the White House think needs to be done to create a CBDC.
The issue dates back to 2022 when President Biden placed “the highest urgency on research and development efforts into the potential design and deployment options of a United States CBDC.” As part of this effort, President Biden instructed the Department of Justice to put together an “assessment of whether legislative changes would be necessary to issue a United States CBDC.”
Yet, the report never saw the light of day.
When it became clear that the report wasn't going to be published, I submitted a FOIA request and members of Congress wrote to Attorney General Merrick Garland. Still, nothing.
https://www.cato.org/blog/white-house-doj-keeps-cbdc-legislation-secret-cato-rep-hill-seek-answers
I thought the change in administration might mean I would get the documents faster given how vocally opposed President Trump has been to CBDCs.
Yet, instead, the request still ended in rejection.
In explaining the rejection, the Department of Justice says releasing the information “would harm the interests” of the government.
Given how the rise of CBDCs has increasingly become a public concern, the American people deserve to know what the Department of Justice and the White House think needs to be done to create a CBDC.