The Digital U.S. Dollar Is A Threat To Civil Liberties
The U.S. CBDC could be a route to civil liberty erosion — the same liberties that Bitcoin inherently protects.
For many people, Bitcoin is synonymous with freedom, decentralization, independence and the future. Some consider it akin to anarchy, an online revolution that began with the minting of the first block of Bitcoin that flipped the proverbial bird at central banks and government policy makers.
For governments, however, the vista is different. Generally speaking, those who govern others routinely perceive the cryptocurrency ecosphere as a lawless place, used to fund terrorism and other illicit activities, launder money and evade taxes.
In response to the trillions of dollars of investor and commercial interest, President Joe Biden issued an executive order calling on the government to examine the risks and benefits of cryptocurrencies. The executive order's explicit aim is to explore a U.S. central bank digital currency (CBDC), which would be a digital fiat, backed by the United States government. But if the original purpose behind the creation of cryptocurrency was to eliminate government control and oversight over fiat and monetary policy, how far will the U.S. government’s control over its citizens' digital currency extend?
The executive order says that the “principal policy objectives of the United States with respect to digital assets are as follows: We must protect consumers, investors, and businesses in the United States.” The policy goes on to articulate that digital assets have “profound implications” on “crime; national security; the ability to exercise human rights; financial inclusion and equity; and energy demand and climate change.” The executive order isolates the asset class as “non‑state issued digital assets.” Future regulatory, governance and technological measures will purportedly be designed to “counter illicit activities” and “enhance the efficacy of our national security tools.” While there’s no denying the dark side of cryptocurrency and its possible criminal uses, not only does the U.S. government want to regulate cryptocurrency, they seek to control it.
It appears a sure bet that the United States government will (1) regulate private cryptocurrency while (2) issuing its own government-controlled digital token. And in the context of the world's leading liberal democracy founded on a rule of law based on limitation of government powers, this development warrants serious scrutiny.
Going all the way back to the formation of the United States of America, the founding fathers were skeptical about giving banks and governments control over currencies. During the drafting of the U.S. Constitution, John Adams drew on the colonist’s distrust of government-issued money and declared that every dollar of printed fiat money was “a cheat upon somebody.” The drafters left the federal government with only the power to “coin money,” and forbade the states from making anything but gold and silver coin legal "tender.” Years later, in 1816, Thomas Jefferson wrote that “banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies… [and] the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.”
https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/digital-dollar-threat-civil-liberties