Tag: digital currency

G20 Announces Plan to Impose Digital Currencies and IDs Worldwide

The leaders of the Group of 20 nations have agreed to a plan to eventually impose digital currencies and digital IDs on their respective populations, amid concern that governments might use them to monitor their people’s spending and crush dissent.

The G20, which is made up of the world’s leading rich and developing nations and is currently under India’s presidency, adopted a final declaration on the subject over the weekend in New Delhi.

The group announced last week that they had agreed to build the necessary infrastructure to implement digital currencies and IDs.

While the group said that discussions are already underway to create international regulations for cryptocurrencies, it claimed that there was “no talk of banning cryptocurrency” at the summit.

Many critics are concerned that governments and central banks will eventually regulate cryptocurrencies and then immediately replace them with central bank digital currencies (CBDC), which lack similar privacy and security.

Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that discussions are underway to build a global framework to regulate crypto assets because they believe that cryptocurrencies can’t be regulated efficiently without total international cooperation.

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Federal Reserve: desire for cash-like anonymity for digital assets based on ignorance

The Federal Reserve published a paper that explores various privacy strategies in digital asset ecosystems. A key point is that cash like anonymity is very unlikely in digital systems. Confidentiality from certain parties is the best to hope for.

It asserts the desire for cash-like anonymity is based on a misunderstanding of how digital systems work. Even with encryption, activity logs and audit trails leak small pieces of information. Of course, current versions of most public blockchains reveal an enormous amount of data which is easy to link to an identity by tracing wallets back to exchange onramps.

Although it may be true that anonymity is almost impossible to achieve in the digital realm, people desire it. While comparing digital systems to cash at a practical level, the paper doesn’t acknowledge the broad recognition that digital money will accelerate the crowding out of cash.

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Thailand’s Pheu Thai Party pledges to give citizens digital currency handout with 6-month expiry date, must be spent within 4km of home

The proposed ~$280 handout has all the hallmarks of a programmable CBDC, including expiry dates & geolocation-based restrictions: perspective

Thailand’s Pheu Thai Party says that once it came to power, it would give all citizens 16 years and older a handout of approximately $280 that could only be spent within four kilometers of their homes and would expire after six months.

In a move intended to both stimulate the economy as well as lay the foundations for a digital economy, the 10,000 baht (~$280) programmable handout would be sent to the digital wallets of each eligible citizen that had the application on their smartphone.

For those without the smartphone app, Pheu Thai Party deputy secretary-general Paopoom Rojanasakul said, “There would be no problems […] as they could use their national ID card to get a personal code instead,” the Bangkok Post reported.

“Rojanasakul, who is also the spokesman for its economic committee, said that a Pheu Thai-led coalition government in the making would implement the promised policy once it comes to power,” according to The Nation.

The proposed handout was originally announced in April, but it was put on pause after the Pheu Thai Party came in second in the May 14 election, but the policy was revived last Friday.

“The Pheu Thai party, which won the second-highest number of seats, will lead a government”“Thailand’s Pheu Thai Party Takes Control—But at a Long Term Cost,” Joshua Kurlantzick, Council on Foreign Relations

Thailand’s prime ministerial vote is expected to take place sometime between August 18 and 22.

According to Reuters, “Pheu Thai will nominate for prime minister Srettha Thavisin, a former real estate mogul with no political experience up until the election.

“To succeed, Srettha needs support from more than half of the joint lower and upper houses, an outcome far from certain.”

The Pheu Thai Party was the runner-up to the Move Forward Party in the election last May, and the two parties formed a short-lived coalition before splitting in July.

“With Move Forward now consigned to the opposition, it is almost certain that Srettha will be confirmed as prime minister,” writes Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) senior fellow Joshua Kurlantzick.

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Kenya Kicks Eye-Scanning Worldcoin To The Curb — Refuses To Become ‘Data Harvesting Guinea Pigs’

The Kenyan Ministry of the Interior last week suspended the controversial tech firm WorldCoin and any similar entities from operating in the country.

Co-founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, WorldCoin offers free crypto tokens worth roughly $50 to people willing to have their eyeballs scanned by a device called the Orb.

“Relevant security, financial services and data protection agencies have commenced inquiries and investigations to establish the authenticity and legality of the aforesaid activities, the safety and protection of the data being harvested, and how the harvesters intend to use the data,” reads a statement from the Ministry issued last week.

Kenyan Cabinet Secretary Alfred Mutua was enraged over the technology, saying in a statement: “Let us support the stoppage of Kenyans being used as guinea pigs and their data being harvested.

“You have to ask yourself why your eyes are being scanned and information gathered. What does it mean and what will it mean to you and your offspring?“

Another CS, Kithure Kindiki, assured citizens that the government would undertake all measures to ensure public safety and the integrity of financial transactions involving so many citizens, according to Kenyans.co.ke.

Further, appropriate action will be taken on any natural or juristic person who furthers, aids, abets or otherwise engages in or is connected with the activities until the government deems WorldCoin is safe. 

Following the directive, police officers were deployed to disperse hundreds queuing at KICC, Nairobi for the exercise. 

The directive comes minutes after ICT Eliud Owalo had stated that the government was yet to kick out the international company as it had not broken any laws.

That said, WorldCoin technically hasn’t broken any Kenyan laws – which, we imagine, is one of the reasons it was rolled out there.

“There are security issues even though in relation to the current data laws, they have not breached anything. Our laws, regulations are not comprehensive,” said Owalo. “Within the existing legal framework today, there are no provisions in the law that the organisation has negated. However, there could be security and regulatory issues around it.”

In response to the ban, WorldCoin co-founder Alex Blania claimed that the company’s intentions are above board.

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The CBDCs Are Coming, And The Elite Plan To Use These “Digital Currencies” To Enslave Humanity

Central bank digital currencies are feverishly being developed all over the globe, and this is something that should deeply alarm all of us. 

For a moment, I would like for you to imagine a world where the government instantly knows whenever you buy or sell something.  No transaction would ever be truly private, not even your most personal or embarrassing ones.  In addition, your money would not be truly your own under such a system.  Your access to the digital currency system would be a privilege which could potentially be suspended or revoked with the click of a mouse.  All of a  sudden you would not be able to buy or sell anything and you would become an outcast from society.  Under no circumstances should any government ever be given such power.

Unfortunately, the CBDCs are coming, and they are going to radically change how commerce gets done.

Here in the United States, the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco has posted a job listing for a “Senior Crypto Architect” to work on the development of a digital dollar.

U.S. Representative Warren Davidson is very upset about this, because he believes that a CBDC issued by the Federal Reserve would be the “financial equivalent of the Death Star”…

The job description specified that the Federal Reserve seeks a technologist to “perform central bank digital currency (CBDC) research and development.”

The expert will work to “ensure the Federal Reserve is well-positioned to design, develop, and implement technology to support a CBDC as may be required by the Board of Governors.”

Although the job listing shows that the Federal Reserve is only working on CBDC research, Rep Davidson believes it is a sign of what is to come and described it as the “financial equivalent of the Death Star.”

Davidson added that CBDC would turn money into a tool of coercion and control.

Sadly, he is right on target.

Once “digital dollars” issued by the Federal Reserve become the dominant form of currency in our nation, whoever has power over that system would truly have an unprecedented “tool of coercion and control”.

So we must not allow this to happen.

Sadly, CBDCs are now in development all around the world.

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FedNow Instant Payments Are Coming and CBDCs Will Follow

There’s absolutely no doubt that our financial system is in flux right now. We’re watching a storm approach, and it’s about to envelop the entire nation in chaotic conditions. If you think things are crazy now, just hang on to your halo…it’s about to get a whole lot worse.

Remember how we talked about CBDCs a few weeks ago, and lots of people in the comments said never, no way, and heck no? Well, unfortunately, it’s being rolled out and soon.

Of course, they’re not calling it CBDCs. Not yet.

It’s under another name, and it’s not quite a federal digital currency. I’m sure this, too, will be called a conspiracy theory, but the Federal Reserve is launching FedNow, an instant digital payment system. This in itself is not a Central Bank Digital Currency, but it puts into place the framework needed to make the idea a reality.

FedNew will be launched in July, according to a press release from the Federal Reserve.

What is FedNow?

On March 15th, in the midst of the banking collapses, the Federal Reserve issued a press release detailing a new instant payment system that will be launched in July. That system is called FedNow. Here’s what they said about it.

The first week of April, the Federal Reserve will begin the formal certification of participants for launch of the service. Early adopters will complete a customer testing and certification program, informed by feedback from the FedNow Pilot Program, to prepare for sending live transactions through the system.

Certification encompasses a comprehensive testing curriculum with defined expectations for operational readiness and network experience. In June, the Federal Reserve and certified participants will conduct production validation activities to confirm readiness for the July launch.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the forthcoming FedNow launch, which will enable every participating financial institution, the smallest to the largest and from all corners of the country, to offer a modern instant payment solution,” said Ken Montgomery, first vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and FedNow program executive. “With the launch drawing near, we urge financial institutions and their industry partners to move full steam ahead with preparations to join the FedNow Service.”

Many early adopters have declared their intent to begin using the service in July, including a diverse mix of financial institutions of all sizes, the largest processors, and the U.S. Treasury.

This has all the hallmarks of a government strategy. First, they offer it as a “convenience” or a “safety measure.” Lots of people will jump on board in order to take advantage of this.

Of course, we’ve heard this song before.

Next, it will be pushed harder, and those who don’t adopt it will be mocked, thought of as backward, and treated with suspicion. After that, it’ll be darn near impossible to do anything without it. Sound familiar?

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Western governments are on the verge of introducing expiring money

The European Central Bank (ECB) is considering using negative interest rates, a tool that erodes the value of your money, as it introduces the digital euro — its central bank digital currency (CBDC).

This is according to Sarah Palurovic, the executive director of the Digital Euro Association (DEA) think tank.

During an appearance on the Poundcast podcast, Palurovic said that the ECB wants to “keep the possibility open for tiered remuneration” after it introduces the digital euro because the ECB wants to have “measures that incentivize or disincentivize people to hold more or less CBDCs.” She added that one of the measures the ECB is considering is negative interest rates.

Negative interest rates allow bureaucrat at central banks to choose a rate at which your money expires and punish those who save their money. For example, if they set a negative interest rate of -10%, you lose 10% of your money each year unless you spend it.

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