The following is an opinion article that might seem a bit extreme at times. However, using extreme examples can help identify the direction we are headed towards. Having said that, after reading the following article, try to distill the underlying trends we are seeing today and come up with conclusions for yourself.
General Introduction to Cryptocurrencies
At the beginning of this article, I would like to clarify what CBDC is and how it differs from cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (BTC) or Ethereum (ETH). To learn about the differences, I highly advise reading this article explaining the two major cryptocurrencies before reading the following sections.
Let us begin with the issue of how institutions and governments might use the popularity of cryptocurrencies to spread the knowledge and adoption of digital money to the wider public.
* The date may vary depending on which action will be taken as the inception of Bitcoin. Whether it will be the issuance of the whitepaper, the creation of the network, or other events along the road of inception, such as the awareness and adoption.
Nevertheless, it might not be the case for every participant in the market. While retail investors came and vanished from the market, more and more people were becoming aware that such a thing as Bitcoin existed.
More and more people saw a chance to break away from the world where the banks and governments are managing our money and restricting the ways we can use them. Not to mention the fact that our savings and earnings are highly dependent on the monetary policy of a given country, and inflation, which once unleashed, cannot be stopped in a pleasant way.
The circle of the ones involved with the adoption of Bitcoin started to grow exponentially. Both investors and miners were treating the first cryptocurrency more seriously year after year.
Along with the popularity of crypto assets, new cryptocurrencies emerged. The community used to refer to them as Alts, as those are alternatives to Bitcoin itself.
As market cycles started to be present, more and more people gained a massive return on investment (ROI), just as numerous people lost everything or even more if played with financial leverage. Bitcoin became not only the vision of financial freedom but also a great asset to speculate on. However, I am not going to dive into the financial aspect of trading Bitcoin, as it is a subject for another essay.
Due to the worsening of the financial situation of the average citizens in various countries, people are trying to find a way to at least preserve their capital far away from the centralized form of governments and banking systems. Some people see this chance in Bitcoin, with it being a decentralized financial asset or even a store of value similar to gold, for some individuals.
That is why the vision and perspective of Bitcoin have been changing over the years. People saw the opportunity not only to generate massive returns on investments but also as a way to gain even a little bit of financial freedom.
However, let us not be too naïve to think that people in power will allow such a thing to happen, which is to free the people from the financial system constraints.
Central Bank Digital Currencies and the Bitcoin Hype
How is it connected to Bitcoin and other crypto-assets you might think?
It depends on how we perceive the financial situation in our life and how we see the future. The following paragraphs will be my humble attempt to present the opinion concerning the case of Bitcoin.
In short, how Bitcoin can be used by governments and countries to make the introduction of CBDC as a savior to the ones who got lost in their lives due to financial losses on crypto markets.
It will also be a tempting chance and solution to provide equality and equity that common people vote and strive for so much. Sheer jealousy and bitterness towards the wealthy, lead common people along the way to becoming just a mere subject to the influence of the rich.
The more people believe in crypto, the greedier they become, and the more money they are putting in their portfolio, just because of the fact that the market is green, and their account grows exponentially. There is no need to say that almost all of them are new to the cryptocurrency world or are only interested in gaining money while not being willing to learn a little bit about the assets they are investing in.
People lost houses, jobs, and everything they had because they were too greedy, too exposed to the market; because they could not say Enough and leave the market when the music is still playing.
“History doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes”
The Risk of Centralization
We should keep that quote in mind while seeing more and more people claiming, “This time is different” because governments are accepting Bitcoin. El Salvador induced Bitcoin as their legal tender. Prominent institutions are investing in crypto. We could buy for Bitcoin not so long ago, and there are rumors that such an option might once again be at play.
Well, Bitcoin is all about being decentralized, isn’t it?
However, the situation in which we will have institutions taking over crypto-assets and limiting their usage and prices will not be the most devastating scenario in this game.
Why? The most important answer will be that people will not lose most of their funds due to regulations of the market and prices. That is not so bad, as some people might say. It depends; because we will lose the way of gaining financial freedom that many people have strived for, for so long.
The Future of Social Division
Of course, from the technological standpoint, we can claim that either soft or hard forks will take place. The new protocol might emerge, but it will resemble playing cat and mouse with governments and institutions rather than achieving financial freedom.
On the other hand, we are presented with the second scenario, which might be more probable than the first one in the long term. It does not mean that the first scenario will be abandoned or disregarded. We might see a hybrid of both of those scenarios, but what is important is how the crypto assets will be applied in the following example.
Like always, people want someone to save them from the consequences of their actions so that they can live in their dream world of no consequences once again.
That is the point when the government enters the stage as a savior on a white horse with shiny armor and an emblem on their shield that says CBDC. However, what exactly will be the story the savior will tell us? What will be the narrative?
I guess we all can imagine more or less accurately that the narration will revolve around saving people from the crypto world led by greedy people whose only aim is to rob others of their money.
You have been lured into the trap because the bad people played on your primal emotion of greed and feeling superior to others. Worry not, dear citizen, as we will do whatever we can to make things better and to ensure that no one will ever again fool you in such a hideous way.
Along with the feeling of reassurance and safety, people will give away their last chance of taking power over their money and finances. Yet once again, the authorities will prevail.
The idea to create a problem and then become the one who finds or creates the solution has worked for centuries, and it still works today. That is why such a scenario is highly probable.
What can we exactly see in the future?
Nerdy sidenote - Palantír might show the future but it was mainly used to communicate. I just couldn’t find a proper “crystal ball” gif.
The vision would show a society full of people devastated and in great need of help. The one who will save those people will be the government of a given country, granting it to those in need, to those who will obey.
The antagonization of Bitcoin and other crypto-assets will become significantly stronger as it will be spreading through and within the enraged public who played the game without reading the rules and taking essential precautions beforehand. Bitcoin will be seen as the demolisher of families and their life savings.
Considering the fact that people are getting more used to the digital forms of payments and digital forms of currencies, crypto is just another step in raising awareness of the security that can be achieved along with digitalizing the financial system.
Time is passing, and more people decide to use their digital form of payment instead of cash, which becomes an artifact of the past, especially for the younger generation. That phenomenon can be used as the first step toward pushing people into the shackles of CBDC. However, the question is, how can this be widely adopted?
The governments and the banks need the appropriate narrative to persuade *ekhem manipulate* the public into accepting their new invention. And this is why they need Bitcoin.
After the previously mentioned burst of the bubble on crypto-assets, people will lose everything and become heavily in debt, as if losing everything was not enough. Then governments will play on the emotions of the broader public by saying that crypto, due to being the unregulated class of assets, is often used to perform some despicable actions and brings benefit only to the individuals and entities controlling the market.
Nevertheless, the public will be told that despite the attempts to regulate crypto assets, it was impossible because of the evil people behind the crypto market, the people who oppose the law and the government, and the people who want to bring chaos into the world.
The Narrative
It is highly probable, if not certain, that the great majority of people will believe the given narrative. The public will become convinced that crypto should be illegalized, and people using it, be punished in some legal way, or as it often happens, publicly ostracized. However, social ostracism only adds flavor to the war against people who still believe in their rights to privacy and freedom.
After this happens, the attempt to attack and eviscerate the cash will begin. The only question remaining will focus on the narrative that will be chosen. The arguments supportive of getting rid of the cash are not new, nor are they complex.
Money laundering is the most prominent example of a narrative saying how cash can be used in a nefarious way. Along with money laundering, the public might also hear from time to time that cash significantly increases the spread of viruses within societies.
However, the argument that divides people the most is the one that spreads uncertainty and distrust among people. The narrative might claim that everyone using only cash and rejecting the digital form of payments cannot be trusted. The individuals like that must have something to hide. Otherwise, they would willingly allow the institutions to scan their financial life.
If you are not willing to expose yourself entirely to the authorities, you have something to hide; or so they will claim. The majority of citizens will follow the given perspective as it would be very persuasive and convenient in the eyes of the average citizen.
The only way of a successful and secure maintenance of the financial system will be CBDC. Ready to launch at any time, or already being induced in the background without permission. Without even asking or informing the public that they are already using the CBDC system to some extent.
The idea behind the CBDC will be presented as the fully regulated and state-maintained form of digital currency, as convenient to use as crypto-assets were, as cheap and fast as previous ways of digital payments were, and as eco-friendly as possible. The only difference will be the safety of the funds that could not be established with Bitcoin and were impossible to have with the cash before. Because someone can steal your wallet, right?
With all the promises of security and equality, CBDC will enter the stage in glory and to the applause of the broader audience. Because what the public always wanted was the security of living in their comfort zones and equality for everyone. Because the rich are just thieves and everyone should have an equal amount of money; most of us have heard such claims at least once in our lifetime.
The narrative focused on the rich, not being able to evade taxes and being taxed accordingly, is a story of great significance to the broader public; since the wealth gap between the rich and the poor began to increase in the USA. Along with it, the social gap between wealthy people and average citizens began to grow at a similar pace.
The Summary
Jealousy, hatred, resentment, and the feeling of inferiority began to rise among the people who earned less and less money compared to the top 1%. Is there a better narrative to follow than to play on the emotions and tensions that have already been growing within the people for so many years?
Overall, the majority of votes is what matters in democracy, isn’t it?
To conclude, the detrimental consequences of investing in crypto-assets without any knowledge or willingness to learn even the basics will bring the opportunity for the state and the banks to persuade people and push on the narrative of the great CBDC system. Banning Bitcoin and other unregulated assets will be only a matter of time unless the state will regulate Bitcoin and implement it into the financial system on their own terms by subjugation.
Otherwise, people who strive to be free will not only be ostracized, as they always were, but also persecuted and penalized. There will be almost no other way of purchasing goods outside the system ruled by CBDC and controlled by the institutions.
However, as long as governments will impose their laws and decisions on the broader public, there will be people fighting for freedom. The individuals, the rebels, or just the people who value privacy and can take care of themselves without the helping hand of the government.
The most significant difference between those people and the public is that the public will take everything for granted without thinking critically. Without asking needed and thoughtful questions. The public will get used to anything with an appropriate narrative and appropriate period of time.
“It is well enough that people of the nation do not understand our banking and monetary system, for if they did, I believe there would be a revolution before tomorrow morning.”
Henry Ford
Also published here
Photo by