Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are “the latest danger hanging over society.” In the view of former NSA and CIA employee Edward Snowden, these tools “distort” the very nature of cryptocurrencies.
Most of your money exists not as something folded in your wallet, but as an entry in a bank’s database, faithfully requested and rendered beneath the glass of your phone.
If someone else gets to decide *if* and *how* you can spend it, is it really yours?https://t.co/720SYvqzZM
— Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 9, 2021
In his words, CBDCs are “clearly designed to deprive users of ownership rights in their money.” He noted that the deployment of these tools is not tied to government support for cryptocurrencies or the digitisation of finance, as most dollars are already digital.
“Rather, CBDCs are something close to the distortion of cryptocurrencies, or at least their fundamental principles and protocols. A crypto-fascist currency, an evil doppelgänger, clearly designed to deprive users of ownership rights in their money and to make the state the intermediary in every transaction,” Snowden wrote.
He stressed that CBDCs could be used to control citizens’ funds. As an example, Snowden cited a hypothetical guard told by a doctor to limit sugar intake.
To mitigate its risks, the man’s insurer could pass information about his health to the body that controls the digital wallet. If he tries to buy a chocolate bar, the payment would simply fail.
Earlier, Chinese authorities tested the digital yuan with limited use cases. The money could be spent exclusively on low-emission transport.
As Snowden argued, China’s crackdown on the cryptocurrency industry “has only strengthened Bitcoin”.
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