Former analyst and whistleblower Edward Snowden has shown that he is concerned about the tendency of some central banks to want to create their own digital currencies, fearing that the civilian population could lose its financial autonomy.
In response to an article published in New York Times, signed by Eswar Prasad, professor at Cornell University, via twitter, Snowden showed that he does not like the idea of having digital currencies managed by central banks. The analyst highlights the ongoing existence of a migration towards a cashless economy, as predicted by some pilot projects in China, Sweden, Japan, the United Kingdom or the European Union, with central banks being the issuers of digital coins.
Snowden highlighted part of Prasad's text and wrote on that social network that this type of coin (the CBDC, as they are known in the acronym in English) can “ccurrently [annihilate] workers' savings”, quotes the publication decrypt.
What is a Central Bank Digital Currency, do you ask? Oh, you know: just a "useful policy tool" is casually annihilating the savings of every wage-worker in the country if they don't spend them fast enough. https://t.co/TAKQCEDcOX
- Edward Snowden (@Snowden) October 9, 2021
In the article, the academic says that if the US economy were in "trouble", the US central bank could impose negative interest rates, which would result in a gradual reduction in the balance of digital currency accounts (ie, the user would be paying to the bank to keep your money). A decrease in value that could be even more noticeable if it coincides with a significant rate of inflation. Snowden later published in your blog a vast and complex explanation of your position.
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The former CIA analyst still recalls the origins of physical money and follows the evolution to the point where money is a digital number in a bank's app. Then it goes on to explain how decentralized cybercurrencies work, such as Ethereum or Bitcoin, which are a method of storing and exchanging money without intermediaries such as banks or financial services.
In the final part, it suggests that the CBDC, by the proposal to recentralize the monetary system and by assuming greater control by a central bank, end up being harmful to the interests of the population. Some stablecoins already remove currency from users' wallets, completely changing the supply chain and its value, but the difference is that this movement is done autonomously and by parameters defined by the community and not by central banks.
It should also be noted that several experts have already voiced similar concerns, with the debate around the CBDC promising to run a lot of ink. What is certain is that many countries are already moving towards pilot tests with this type of currency.
