Designing a CBDC to Empower the Oppressed

Abstract Even if a CBDC issued by an advanced economy adds little to that economy’s domestic financial and payment system, it can be of great value to non-domestic users, especially to the oppressed people living in autocracies. Designing a CBDC for these oppressed people requires new thinking. In particular, AML loopholes need to be created deliberately. They need to be small enough so that criminals cannot exploit, yet big enough for the oppressed people to use the system anonymously. This article explains how this can be done.