Every citizen’s spending will soon be traceable thanks to central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). And it is not a personality belonging to a so-called conspiracy community that says so, but the very managing director of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
All transactions in central banks’ sights
The director general of the Bank for International Settlements, Agustín Carstens, confirms the fears of opponents of MNBCs, who see them as a tool for “absolute control” of personal finances by the institution. Carstens had indeed revealed, on October 19, 2020, this willingness of central banks to carry out increased surveillance of the spending of each individual. The video of Carstens’ speech was recently published on YouTube. The substance of his message is clear:
“We don’t know who uses a $100 bill today and we don’t know who uses a $1,000 peso bill today. The key difference with MNBCs is that the central bank will have absolute control over the rules and regulations that will determine the use of this expression of central bank responsibility, and we too will have the technology to enforce that.”
ShapeShift CEO Erik Voorhees is among the cryptosphere figures who had warned about the danger of MNBCs. He had said that they offered nothing new to its users and would only benefit people who want to infringe on freedom and individual sovereignty.
MNBC and decentralization: an impossible combination
In its study entitled “Central bank digital currency: the quest for minimally invasive technology”, the BIS rejected the idea of decentralization and the right to anonymity in the development of MNBCs. She criticized these features that underlie the development of most cryptocurrencies and would ultimately not be suitable for retail MNBCs:
“We find that technology developments inspired by popular cryptocurrency systems – based on anonymity and lacking a central authority – do not meet the requirements of a retail MNBC.”
Currently, 67 countries are reportedly developing their MNBCs, unless they have already launched them. Yet the BIS director general said in 2019 that central banks did not see the point of developing their digital currency:
“There is no clear demand for MNBCs from society. There are huge operational implications for central banks in implementing monetary policy and implications for the stability of the financial system.”
Carstens had then changed his tune, 4 months later, this time asserting the existence of demand for MNBCs. And while he had previously stated that there was no urgency to get into it, he changed his tune by saying that MNBCs might finally see the light of day sooner than expected.
Should we also expect an about-face from the BIS on the need to regulate cryptocurrencies as speculative assets? Researchers at the bank of banks had concluded following their study, that there was simply no need to come out with a specific regulation on crypto-currencies to protect investors.
