The popularity of cryptocurrencies has forced governments around the world to react. And their response has been predictable: create state versions of what was born to be decentralized. Central Bank Digital Currencies, the so-called CBDCs, are the new bet of States to maintain control over money — now in a digital version and, above all, traceable.
But is a currency created, managed and monitored by a central bank really an innovation? Or is it just the most dangerous evolution of state financial surveillance?
What are CBDCs?
Central bank digital currencies are not cryptocurrencies. They are digitized state currencies, with the issuer's full control over circulation, destination, tracking and even validity.
While Bitcoin is scarce, autonomous and immutable, CBDCs are programmable, unlimited and obedient to political authority.
The risk of objectionable money
Imagine a system where:
- The government may prevent you from sending funds to certain people.
- Money can “expire” if not spent within a pre-defined period of time.
- “Unsustainable” purchases are blocked by credit programming.
Sounds dystopian? It's the scenario that central banks and international organizations as the BIS and the IMF are already openly considering.
The difference between real crypto and state crypto
The key is decentralization.
- Real cryptocurrencies operate on networks no single control, no authorization and no central point of failure.
- State cryptos, even if digital, remain under the complete control of an issuing authority.
Technological freedom only exists when control is not in the hands of the State.
Freedom cannot be outsourced
The Austrian School has already warned: the greatest danger of monetary centralization is not inefficiency — it is the power it concentrates. With CBDCs, the State can link currency to behavior of the citizen, creating a system where access to money depends on obedience.
Technology, by itself, is not liberating. It all depends on who controls it — and for what purpose.
Conclusion
Cryptocurrencies were born to to escape the traditional banking system, not to reinforce it.
Accepting CBDCs as a replacement for physical money or decentralized cryptos is giving up financial freedom in exchange for controlled convenience.
The question of the future is not whether we will use digital money — but whether it will be ours or the government's.
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