US think tank Bitcoin Policy Institute has recommended United States of America to reject Centrali Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) and to take into account Bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoins as alternatives, according to Cointelegraph.
As reported by Cointelegraph, through a whitepaper shared recently, authors including Natalie Smolenski PhD, executive director, Texas Bitcoin Foundation, and former Kraken growth lead Dan Held, made the argument that CBDCs would remove the public of financial control, privacy and freedom. Smolenski and Held argued that CBDCs would be able to provide governments with direct access to every transaction done by an individual from any part of the world. The pair also stated that CBDCs would allow governments to disincentivise or reverse transactions, making them tools of financial censorship and control.
On the basis of information by Cointelegraph, Smolenski and Held recommended focus towards on surveillance will help bring state visibility in all financial transactions, which aren’t paid attention to through the digital banking system. Smolenski highlighted that Bitcoin and private stablecoins will permit instant, low-cost, digital transactions, both domestically and across borders, while digital dollars and stablecoins will be subjected to anti-money laundering and know-your-customer compliances. Insights from the whitepaper showed that governments reportedly remain out of depth with new technology, pointing to an incident earlier when Dcash, an Eastern Caribbean Central Bank’s CBDC, went offline.
Moreover, Cointelegraph noted that CBDCs are expected to go through development in countries such as China. Earlier, US president Joe Biden mentioned that the country is expected to follow suit after directing the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) to submit a report analysing 18 CBDC systems. The Bitcoin Policy Institute coins itself as a nonpartisan, non-profit organisation, researching on the policy and societal implications of Bitcoin and emerging monetary networks.
“The United States should stand for something different: it should stand for freedom. For this reason, the United States should reject central bank digital currencies,” Smolenski and Held said.
(With insights from Cointelegraph)
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