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This isn't true. Firstly in a totalitarian state they can already freeze your assets at will. Chinese banks regularly do this and there's nothing the victims c

This isn't true. Firstly in a totalitarian state they can already freeze your assets at will. Chinese banks regularly do this and there's nothing the victims can do about it. Secondly, although unlikely that states will do so, it's perfectly possible to design CBDC to be privacy preserving. What digital central bank money actually does is shift power from private banks to the central bank. It also gives those who want to hold large sums of cash more security as they will be able to directly hold the actual currency instead of private bank credit money which is uninsured at large sums.

bob33212 5y ago
The freedom that will be provided by a "decentralized database" is commonly overestimated by pro crypto crowd. It is true that the government cannot edit the ledger. But they can take your things and put you in jail.
ngcc_hk 5y ago
You can still sort if using paper or gold or Bitcoin especially if many have relatives outside of the system. But if the all economical activities are in the central bank I am not sure you can have the private part of all these non-government activities. Not to mention mining the details of your transactions are so much easier and social credit system is so much enforceable. The article mentioned of Norway is a good case illustrated someone beyond this line of thinking. But once the central Gov can control all, can even democracy survived one wonder. The decentralised part is the key assumption in democracy.
- lottin 5y ago
  What? Democracy is predicated on the consent of the governed, and the accountability of public institutions, not decentralisation.
- trompetenaccoun 5y ago
  It's all a question of politics. Based on what I see there is no doubt that digital currencies are coming. Governments are not going to just give up their currency monopoly, so the only logical consequence is central bank digital currency. But how will it be implemented, that's the question. Digital cash is perfectly feasible, just look at something like Monero. They could build in a central bank fiat lever if they want to, so that they can inflate at will, while still preserving privacy, security, and accountability. Will this happen? I doubt it. Because the trend goes to ever more authoritarianism. But it could be easily implemented if there were a will to do so. And again, we don't need digital currency for the government to turn against the citizen, many governments around the word manage perfectly fine without it already. Private banking isn't immune to the law. Instead of being scared of regulation, the citizens should lobby for the right regulation. The current financial system already discriminates against us and only aids the wealthy.
callmeal 5y ago
>This isn't true. >Firstly in a totalitarian state they can already freeze your assets at will. I see this a problematic because now non-totalitarian states will have that power. And it will give them an ability to go "oops we made a mistake and shouldn't have frozen your assets". And don't forget about all the asset-forfeiture laws that are still on the books. I can imagine police departments all over the country salivating at the ability to grab whatever they want at a routine traffic stop. "Can't explain how you have that much money in your account? Well, we'll just grab it and sue the money, and you can get it back if the court determines it's yours."

bob33212 5y ago

The freedom that will be provided by a "decentralized database" is commonly overestimated by pro crypto crowd. It is true that the government cannot edit the ledger. But they can take your things and put you in jail.

ngcc_hk 5y ago

You can still sort if using paper or gold or Bitcoin especially if many have relatives outside of the system. But if the all economical activities are in the central bank I am not sure you can have the private part of all these non-government activities. Not to mention mining the details of your transactions are so much easier and social credit system is so much enforceable. The article mentioned of Norway is a good case illustrated someone beyond this line of thinking. But once the central Gov can control all, can even democracy survived one wonder. The decentralised part is the key assumption in democracy.

lottin 5y ago
What? Democracy is predicated on the consent of the governed, and the accountability of public institutions, not decentralisation.
trompetenaccoun 5y ago
It's all a question of politics. Based on what I see there is no doubt that digital currencies are coming. Governments are not going to just give up their currency monopoly, so the only logical consequence is central bank digital currency. But how will it be implemented, that's the question. Digital cash is perfectly feasible, just look at something like Monero. They could build in a central bank fiat lever if they want to, so that they can inflate at will, while still preserving privacy, security, and accountability. Will this happen? I doubt it. Because the trend goes to ever more authoritarianism. But it could be easily implemented if there were a will to do so. And again, we don't need digital currency for the government to turn against the citizen, many governments around the word manage perfectly fine without it already. Private banking isn't immune to the law. Instead of being scared of regulation, the citizens should lobby for the right regulation. The current financial system already discriminates against us and only aids the wealthy.

callmeal 5y ago

>This isn't true. >Firstly in a totalitarian state they can already freeze your assets at will. I see this a problematic because now non-totalitarian states will have that power. And it will give them an ability to go "oops we made a mistake and shouldn't have frozen your assets". And don't forget about all the asset-forfeiture laws that are still on the books. I can imagine police departments all over the country salivating at the ability to grab whatever they want at a routine traffic stop. "Can't explain how you have that much money in your account? Well, we'll just grab it and sue the money, and you can get it back if the court determines it's yours."