Privacy-protected: Protecting consumer privacy is critical. Any CBDC would need to strike an
appropriate balance, however, between safeguarding the privacy rights of consumers and affording
the transparency necessary to deter criminal activity.
The problem is that privacy can never be guaranteed unless the "balance" is permanently fixed. Otherwise, it can be changed at any time at the whim of the current government. With the current trend of financial surveillance toward 100% of all transactions, I don't see any hope of any balance at all.
Intermediated: The Federal Reserve Act does not authorize direct Federal Reserve accounts for individuals, ... Potential intermediaries could include commercial banks and regulated nonbank financial service providers, ... Although commercial banks and nonbanks would offer services to individuals to manage their CBDC holdings and payments ... An intermediated model would facilitate the use of the private sector’s existing privacy and identity-management frameworks; leverage the private sector’s ability to innovate; and reduce the prospects for destabilizing disruptions to the well-functioning U.S. financial system.
The intended difference between a CBDC and the current monetary system really boils down to one thing -- finality of payments. However if all payments must go through intermediaries, then there really is no finality as the intermediaries could undo any payments at any time.
Identity-verified: ... A CBDC would need to be designed to comply with [rules designed to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism]. In practice, this would mean that a CBDC intermediary would need to verify the identity of a person accessing CBDC, just as banks and other financial institutions currently verify the identities of their customers.
That's a non-starter for me. Already the "balance" of privacy vs. security is non-existent. It also restricts access to persons and only those who are identifiable.
