Republican senators want to ban Apple and Google from hosting apps that accept China's digital yuan stablecoin

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Republican senators want to ban Apple and Google from hosting apps that accept China's digital yuan stablecoin
Marco Rubio is one of the sponsors of a bill that would ban app stores from hosting apps that accept China's digital yuan stablecoin.REUTERS/Mike Segar
  • Republican senators have drafted a bill that would ban China's digital yuan from app stores.
  • Apple and Google would be barred from hosting apps that accept digital yuan as a form of payment.
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Three Republican senators have launched a bill that would ban Apple, Google, and other app store providers from hosting apps that accept China's digital yuan stablecoin as a form of payment.

The bill, which is referred to as the Defending Americans from Authoritarian Digital Currencies Act, is sponsored by Florida senator and former presidential candidate Marco Rubio, Arkansas senator Tom Cotton, and Indiana senator Mike Braun.

The digital yuan is a central bank digital currency (CBDC), meaning it's pegged to the Chinese renminbi and issued by the Chinese central bank. It's already used in at least 15 cities after being rolled out at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.

This isn't the first time American lawmakers have tried to regulate the digital yuan. In March, US senators Bill Cassidy and Marsha Blackburn proposed the Say No To Silk Road Act, which would require some government agencies to report on the CBDC.

The three senators said the bill is necessary to prevent China surveilling Americans' financial activities.

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"The Chinese Communist Party will use its digital currency to control and spy on anyone who uses it," Cotton, who is a proponent of a digital dollar, said. "The United States should reject China's attempt to undermine our economy at its most basic level."

Read more: Cryptocurrencies, stablecoins and central-bank digital currencies are all the rage. We break down what they are and what you need to know about them

"It makes no sense to tie ourselves to the digital currency of a genocidal regime that hates us and wants to replace us on the world stage," Rubio added. "This is a major financial and surveillance risk that the United States cannot afford to take."

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