CBDC Debate Heats Up: BIS Project Sparks Controversy Among Critics; Lynette Zang Warns of Dangers of CBDCs

During the weekend, discussions about central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, trended on social media as many people believe the idea will result in increased financial surveillance and a totalitarian monetary system. In a recent interview, Lynette Zang, the chief market analyst at ITM Trading, warned that CBDCs will “take the world into a full surveillance economy that can be controlled directly by the central bank.”

‘Convincing You to Support a Controlled CBDC Has Begun’

In the past week, discussions about CBDCs have trended on social media, and commentary shows that people are highly skeptical about central bank cryptocurrency assets. Opposition has come from well-known influencers and politicians worldwide. Former Congress member and 2020 U.S. presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard recently criticized the idea in the United States. “[The] Biden [administration] aims to implement a central bank digital currency (CBDC) to bring about a cashless society, allowing them to track everything we purchase [and] control our money,” Gabbard opined. “[The] gov’s ‘Fednow’ system is needed [as the] first step to achieve their dream of [a] cashless society. This needs to be stopped at its inception, or it will be too late,” she added.

Spotted in London by a member of the team.

We say no #CBDC because we want our financial privacy. pic.twitter.com/nn8nOKq0ya — Coin Bureau (@coinbureau) April 16, 2023

The U.S. central bank’s Fednow program has sparked much debate in recent times, and just recently, the Federal Reserve asserted that the project was not a digital currency, CBDC, or cash replacement. Other discussions have centered around the Bank for International Settlements’ (BIS) CBDC pilot, Project Icebreaker. BIS recently released a video about the project, and people have commented on the organization’s statements. “Convincing you to support a controlled Central Bank Digital Currency has begun,” tweeted podcaster James Miller.

Why CBDC are a totalitarian dream pic.twitter.com/KsbZ6cFxLF

— Jon Najarian (@jonnajarian) April 16, 2023

Natalie Smolenski, senior fellow at the nonpartisan, nonprofit organization the Bitcoin Policy Institute, also criticized the Project Icebreaker video. “Literally all of the benefits of this CBDC interoperability project (BIS ‘Project Icebreaker’) can already be realized by the bitcoin Lightning Network,” Smolenski wrote. “CBDCs are completely unnecessary. There is no problem that they solve. They’re just re-inserting Central Banks into functions where they’ve already been made obsolete.” According to the Atlantic Council’s CBDC Tracker, 114 countries are working on CBDCs, and 11 countries have fully launched implementations.

Your property and privacy depend on the total rejection of all CBDC schemes.

— Libertarian Party (@LPNational) April 7, 2023

CBDCs Will Usher in a ‘Full Surveillance Economy,’ Says Market Analyst Lynette Zang

Lynette Zang, the chief market analyst at ITM Trading, has warned about the dangers of CBDCs in a recent video with Michelle Makori, the lead anchor at Kitco News. This is not the first time Zang has been critical of CBDCs; she spoke to Makori about the subject in a video published last February. In her most recent discussion, Zang talked about the collapse of Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank and claimed that the failures were “by design.” Zang believes that a CBDC will usher in a totalitarian monetary system that will become the economy’s new norm.

US TREASURY SECRETARY YELLEN: THERE ARE IMPORTANT ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES TO A CBDC THAT MUST BE CAREFULLY CONSIDERED BEFORE MOVING, BUT IT MAY BE SOMETHING THAT IS IN THE FUTURE FOR AMERICANS.

— Breaking Market News (@financialjuice) April 15, 2023

“They need a big enough crisis so that people will agree to this next iteration, the CBDCs,” Zang explained to Makori in her latest interview. “It also takes the world into a full surveillance economy that can be controlled directly by the central bank, if all of your wealth is held inside the system.” Zang believes with CBDCs negative rates will be imposed on people’s bank accounts and individuals’ principal will be threatened. “Central bank digital currencies are really about control, and also about the ability to take away principal,” Zang said. “Negative rates attack your principal… When they come out with a CBDC, it doesn’t mean that this crisis is over. It’s just the next phase of it.” Not everyone opposes the concept of CBDCs, and in a recent opinion editorial, the Keynesian economist Paul Krugman criticized Florida governor Ron DeSantis’s recent opposition to a central bank digital currency. Krugman referred to the hostility as resistance against “woke money” and claimed that DeSantis may be motivated by “general paranoia.” On Twitter, Krugman also opined that the dissent toward CBDCs may be “tied in with a broader push by monetary conspiracy theory types” and claimed the theories have been a “right-wing thing for a while.” What are your thoughts on the rise of CBDCs and the potential for a cashless society? Do you agree with the criticisms leveled by some individuals? Share your views in the comments section below.