Global CBDC Rollouts Will Give Governments Massive Control and Power, Warns Cato Institute President

Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are the ultimate trojan horse for citizens around the world, according to Peter Goettler, president of the Cato institute.

Goettler, who has been president and CEO of the libertarian think since 2015, says CBDCs are a direct response to rise of cryptocurrencies.

“Cryptocurrencies also provide the ability to transact outside of the traditional financial sector and with more privacy. In response to the popularity of this innovation, governments are pursuing the exact opposite: more centralisation, surveillance and control.”

Goettler, a former executive at Barclays, says that CBDCs are are ill-suited to serve the public’s needs for freedom and privacy, despite what the international banking cartels say. According to him, they are being rushed into existence solely to increase the power of the state and its controllers.

“CBDCs are being developed precisely because they provide governments with increased control and power. This kind of threat to individual rights will naturally drive people toward private solutions, while governments are sure to work hard to thwart such alternatives since they undermine the increased government control and power CBDCs create.”

The former banker also says that CBDC apologists who say that the new system will maintain reasonable levels of anonymity and privacy are mistaken. He says governments would essentially be missing out on all the alleged benefits of CBDCs if anonymous transactions were allowed. The only way that CBDCs could have any sort of privacy mechanism is if existing anti-money laundering (AML) laws were thrown out, which Goettler says is an unrealistic expectation.

“Some supporters still believe CBDCs can be designed so that privacy is protected, but this view is naïve because government officials would not be able to reap the supposed benefits of CBDCs if they enabled anonymous transactions. This view also ignores the fact that supposed CBDC benefits won’t be realised if people have alternative payment options. Governments would not be able to programme citizens’ spending, for instance, if people could use cash instead of CBDCs.

It is also very difficult to believe governments will implement CBDCs with fewer requirements than they’ve placed on private firms in the name of safety and security. The only way CBDCs could provide a privacy advantage over transacting with traditional mediums of exchange is if the government ditches the existing anti-money laundering (AML) framework. The truth is, central bankers are not about to engage in anonymous transactions with members of the public, something governments have already outlawed for private financial institutions.”

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