Hi together, a privacy newbie here …
I am interested in privacy in finances. (CBDC alternatives)
In many many countries are Central Bank Digital Currencies on the way to eliminate fiat currencies as part of a digital control grid: https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/cbdctracker/
What are the best ways to have a certain independence if cash is no longer used and a global digital control grid is implemented?
What are your takes on this matter?
Thank you for your feedback.
Regards
P.
I don’t know much about CBDC but according to the Atlantic Council article you linked to, this is still fiat currency:
A Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) is the digital form of a country’s fiat currency that is also a claim on the central bank. Instead of printing money, the central bank issues electronic coins or accounts backed by the full faith and credit of the government.
The privacy implications of abolishing cash would be catastrophic if digital currency can’t be used in a way which is provably private and anonymous. This ultimately comes down to implementation, but if the article you linked is any indication, it probably won’t be built with privacy in mind:
There are many reasons to explore digital currencies, and the motivation of different countries for issuing CBDCs depends on their economic situation. Some common motivations are: […] improving transparency in money flows; and providing for the seamless and easy flow of monetary and fiscal policy.
If the world goes cashless then our only hope might be privacy coins like Monero, which I doubt will receive much adoption due to perceived and real issues with cryptocurrency as well as government crackdowns on privacy coins or cryptocurrency in general. For that reason, it’s really important that cash sticks around until private digital finance becomes practical and widespread.
The only other widely accepted payment might be gift cards assuming they wouldn’t need to be linked with your identity, (which in a cashless world, they very well could be) but they already suck for their intended use case and that’ll only be exacerbated if we went cashless, so I can’t expect them to stick around either. Other than that, people would have to resort to the informal economy by trading precious metals, bartering, or using outlawed cryptocurrencies.
Thank you for raising this concern @Privacyisti. This is something I had heard about and am worried about too, even though I don’t fully understand it.
I know PG’s position on cryptocurrency is that they only support Monero, and my understanding is that they support it for spending money anonymously. But PG’s position on cryptocurrencies for anything else is unclear. As someone who has never used crypto, and with all the scams going around, I think the surrounding skepticism, specifically around most of the people promoting it, is warranted.
When Proton launched Proton Wallet, I thought the skepticism was warranted too, even if I somewhat understand Proton’s justification for it. In a podcast interview Andy Yen, Proton’s CEO, gave the example of refugees, who I think were fleeing from the Middle East or South East Asia, and moved to Europe in a hurry with pretty much nothing but their clothes. They were able to bring their entire savings with them because it was in BitCoin. That’s an inspiring story.
But imagine if you’re a regular person and you’re not fleeing or leaving your country. Your bank freezes your bank accounts, and you are flagged at every bank in your country and hence are not allowed to open a new one. You have USD $100 000 worth of savings in Bitcoin. What can you really do with?
It would be hard for you to convert into cash depending on your country, and even if you were able to convert some of it in cash, what could you realistically do with it. IMO, not much.
Hi @PurpleDime, @TheDoc thank you for your reply.
I personally estimate that after the global implementation of CBDC no real alternative remain.
#1 CBDC will be actively managed, programmable currencies allowing our “managers” on the top of the power pyramid to implement individual policies.
#2 CBDC are only one component. Together with digital ID (NFC in the smartphone or RFID under your skin) and a zero trust security policy you won´t be able to use your wealth independently from the currency.
The digital grid means a global surveillance and control grid, which implementation gets faster after the transhumanist and technocrats in the US get open political power (Musk, Thiel, Bezos, Zuckerberg, etc.).
Since the 1930-ies they on the way to the power and have had 50 Years since the founding of the trilateral commision, to prepare the world a post-capitalistic “smart” economy …
So creating a “shadow economy” with cryptocurrencies can be one component. On the other side, some parts of this closed community have to touch the system to change goods or e. g. simply to have internet connection.
further information:
eCash 2.0 highlights how there could possibly and potentially be a privacy respecting CBDC:
Exactly. Don’t forget that your CBDC can be invalidated at any time if you did a wrongthink or had a transaction with a bad person or just because your social score is too low.
I do not know if it is really possible, but the privacy / security community and consultants should actually prepare policies for such usecases.
The awareness - that we are heading to a digital slavery and the know-how how to “quit” it have to be spread …