CBDC Fast-Track?

Not so long ago I reported on the U.S. Federal Reserve's plans to develop their own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). In the article, CBDC Reset, I mentioned that these plans were in very early stages and even linked to a page where U.S. citizens could provide feedback...

Today I have to report that there's a chance that the CBDC will be implemented much sooner than expected, unfortunately. Recent geopolitical developments may cause not only the U.S. but other countries to adopt their own digital fiat-currencies sooner rather than later. I'm talking about the developments in Russia and the Ukraine of course, and the reaction of NATO and the EU. We'll leave the politics aside for a moment and focus on the parts of the news that are of interest to the freedom-loving crypto-community.

We all know that the U.S. is under threat of losing its leading position as the world's largest economical powerhouse to China. We also know that China has one of the most robust CBDCs, as it already launched its Digital Yuan in January this year. China needed this digital currency as a complement to the Social Credit System they launched in 2014, another tool for total control over the population. If you thought that credit rating systems are horrible, you ain't seen nothing yet; China's social credit system comes straight out of a dystopian science fiction novel. Each citizen starts, as an example, with a social credit score of 1000, can earn more by behaving good and have credits subtracted for bad behavior, like criticizing the government in public or jaywalking. Individuals with scores over 1000 get benefits, like cheaper public transportation or tax-breaks.

The digital Yuan is the perfect complement to this system, as it allows for smart-contracts. Money can now be programmed with an expiration date, it can be programmed to only buy certain products, maybe people with a bad social credit score can be made to pay higher transaction fees; the possibilities for targeted control are nigh limitless...

Russia has been experimenting with its own CBDC system since they started a trial with 12 banks last year, and earlier this month the trial was announced as a success: Digital ruble trial goes live as Bank of Russia insists on Bitcoin ban.

Three banks out of 12 financial institutions in the digital ruble pilot group have already integrated the CBDC platform, with two of them completing a “full cycle of digital ruble transfers between clients using mobile banking applications,” the bank said.
_{source: Cointelegraph}

Since Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the international community has been quick to respond, mainly with economical sanctions. An important measure was to exclude several Russian banks from SWIFT, the global messaging system that enables bank transactions. Now think about these developments... China and Russia have their CBDC systems up and running, so couldn't Russia simply keep on trading with China through these systems? Does Russia even still need SWIFT? And, most importantly, can the U.S. and the EU afford to get left behind in this move to alternative systems by their biggest foes? I've said it before and I'll say it again: "never waste a good crisis," is the slogan of those who want to increase their power over us. I hope I'm wrong, but I wouldn't be surprised if World War 3 is prevented by some unforeseen heroic role of CBDC systems. And for that to happen, the U.S. and EU will have to make haste with the implementation of their own programmable digital fiat currencies. Maybe even implement a world-CBDC through the IMF to oppose the CBDCs of their competitors in the game of world-domination...

Like I said: I hope I'm wrong. In any case, this is just me speculating of course and is to be taken as food for thought, nothing more.

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