Central Bank Digital Currency Design Choices and Effect on Law Enforcement

Key Insights

Jim Mignano, Daniel Egel, Phoebe Rose Levine, Daniel Cunningham, Brian A. Jackson, John S. Hollywood, Lucy L. Thomson, Dulani Woods

Expert InsightsPublished Apr 16, 2025

The Federal Reserve's exploration of a U.S. Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) raises questions about such a currency's effect on U.S. law enforcement's ability to detect and investigate crime. The authors of this paper identify key CBDC design choices that could affect law enforcement capabilities. They underscore the need to evolve investigative techniques to meet relevant challenges if a U.S. CBDC is launched.

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RAND Style Manual

Mignano, Jim, Daniel Egel, Phoebe Rose Levine, Daniel Cunningham, Brian A. Jackson, John S. Hollywood, Lucy L. Thomson, and Dulani Woods, Central Bank Digital Currency Design Choices and Effect on Law Enforcement: Key Insights, Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center operated by the RAND Corporation, PE-A2952-1, April 2025. As of April 30, 2025: https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA2952-1.html

Chicago Manual of Style

Mignano, Jim, Daniel Egel, Phoebe Rose Levine, Daniel Cunningham, Brian A. Jackson, John S. Hollywood, Lucy L. Thomson, and Dulani Woods, Central Bank Digital Currency Design Choices and Effect on Law Enforcement: Key Insights. Homeland Security Operational Analysis Center operated by the RAND Corporation, 2025. https://www.rand.org/pubs/perspectives/PEA2952-1.html.
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This work was commissioned by U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate and was conducted in the Infrastructure, Immigration, and Security Operations Program of the RAND Homeland Security Research Division (HSRD).

This publication is part of the RAND expert insights series. The expert insights series presents perspectives on timely policy issues.

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