If you thought CBDC’s are here to help people, here is some clarity from Bank of International Settlement’s head: “With cash, we dont know who is using a $100 bill and who is using a 1000 pesos bill. A key difference in CBDC is that the central bank will

Many people seem to think CBDCs are the next step in crypto adoption, and governments are keen on introducing CBDCs to help people spend and invest in crypto in a safe manner instead of having to rely on risky tokens like USDT. I’ve seen statement thrown around like “CBDC will render Bitcoin useless.”

If you thought so, here is some clarity on what CBDC’s actually help to accomplish.

Agustín Carstens, head of the Bank of International Settlements: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpNnTuK5JJU

We don’t know who’s using a $100 bill today and we don’t know who’s using a 1,000 peso bill today.

The key difference with the CBDC is the central bank will have absolute control on the rules and regulations that will determine the use of that expression of central bank liability, and also we will have the technology to enforce that.

This is not a joke, nor are they even trying to be subtle about it. The goal of CBDC is to enable governments to have complete control over people’s finances. They can already do this to a great extent with the current financial system where most transactions are already electronic, but due to intermediaries like retail banks, the Central Banks are not in an immediate position to halt or know about everyone’s finances. CBDCs are designed to over come this. With CBDCs, the government can directly seize a user’s funds without having to go through retail banks.
The current electronic payment system already allows governments and central banks to have complete control over the users of the electronic network. CBDCs just help them exert their control in a more efficient manner.

This is how CBDCs are implemented in China. Everything is through their CBDC Digital Yuan app. Money cannot leave that app, nor can it be sent to anyone outside that network. This is how every single proposed CBDC framework looks like. You can transfer/receive CBDCs from others on the same network, thats all. All the funds on the network are ring fenced and cannot leave or enter this system unless the central bank allows for it.

Digital Yuan app

CBDC shills (i.e. central bankers, regulators etc) will try to claim CBDC's are "programmable money". They are not wrong, but it is "programmable" only by the central bank and the programming enables them to stop payments and remove your access to money. CBDC's are not programmable by end users, developers who want to build with the CBDC. Any attempt to program CBDC must be signed off by the central banks. They are just stealing terms like "programmable money" from decentralised cryptocurrency jargon and using this narrative to pitch to those who do not have an understanding about crypto for the CBDC gotcha moment: "Look CBDCs are here, now your crypto coins dont have a use!". It's false advertising for those unaware of what CBDCs are.

If you thought CBDCs are going to allow you to invest in your favourite defi apps or use it as a replacement for USD Stablecoins to earn more interest, that is not going to happen. Once CBDCs are mainstream, the next goal would be to prohibit cash transactions completely, so that the entire economy can be controlled by a centralised entity. The only obstacle standing in this path is the emergence of decentralised currencies.

CBDCs are a privacy nightmare straight from a dystopian novel, and an autocrats dream. Central Banks are taking the worst of the crypto industry and devising ways to use it so that the governments can have even more power over their subjects.