Part 14/18:
Transitioning to the topic of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), the speaker warns that these digital dollars could entail unprecedented government surveillance and control, effectively enabling totalitarian oversight of individual transactions. While some U.S. policymakers see CBDCs as technological upgrades—improving payment efficiency—he cautions that they could serve as tools of tyranny and social control akin to China’s social credit system.
He criticizes proposals that would give the Federal Reserve near-total control over citizens’ finances, including potentially negative interest rates, asset seizures, or restrictions based on political or social criteria. The risk is that CBDCs could erode the privacy, sovereignty, and economic freedom that Bitcoin advocates.