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The key words here are "central transaction processor". Being able to interact with the financial system without going through intermediaries would eliminate an

The key words here are "central transaction processor". Being able to interact with the financial system without going through intermediaries would eliminate an incredible amount of waste in the form of most of the payments industry.

WaxedChewbacca 5y ago
melony 5y ago
It is better for the government to run financial infrastructure. The restrictions imposed by PayPal and the banks on certain types of businesses can then be challenged in court.
rmbyrro 5y ago
Would also eliminate an incredible last grain of financial privacy people have. When every transaction goes through FED, the government won't need to call or subpoena anyone to know where your money come and go.
- djbusby 5y ago
  How does the Post remain private, since the Government runs that too?
  - kingcharles 5y ago
    If you're interested in the technical answer, this is the SCOTUS case law that decided that postal mail was subject to the Fourth Amendment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_parte_Jackson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_parte_Jackson
  - salawat 5y ago
    They never open the package, and technically, they are quasi-public. Public enough that they can't play fast and loose like everyone else, but private where it matters in terms of not having literal Federally administered databases all just eafer for the reaping.
    - djbusby 5y ago
      Right. So, couldn't the central ledger be similar?
      - DennisP 5y ago
        If they don't require KYC for accounts, and maybe even use privacy tech like Monero or ZCash, then sure. How likely do you think that is?
    - wbsss4412 5y ago
      The fed is quasi public too? It’s actually less public than the postal service, the postal service is a fully public agency, the fed is partially governed by private banks.
      - dragonwriter 5y ago
        > the postal service is a fully public agency, the fed is partially governed by private banks. The Fed is fully governed by a federal agency. (The Fed Board of Governors). The individual regional Fed banks are private-public hybrids, but they don't govern the system.
        wbsss4412 5y ago
        Nonetheless, given that the individual regional banks are have directors that are elected by the member banks, control over certain levels of fed policy are in a sense private, whereas that is nowhere true for the postal service. At least not to my knowledge.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      The USPS isn't quasi-public, it's fully public, an “independent” (meaning it has an Presidentially-appointed, Senate confirmed board with limits on degree of single-party domination) federal executive-branch agency.
  - mistrial9 5y ago
    one secret there is, they can photo record every source addr<->dest addr from the post item face, for some or all of the delivery, for years and years without fail, keep those records, and then do investigative work from that.
    - tjfl 5y ago
      https://info.publicintelligence.net/USPS-MailCoverRequestsForm.pdf https://info.publicintelligence.net/USPS-MailCoverRequestsFo...
  - dghlsakjg 5y ago
    With mail, the only information that is verifiable is the address that received the mail. The return address can be made up. Although the general area it is sent from is recorded in the form of zip code. The contents of the letter are also not known. So even if that info got out, there’s really not much information beyond the fact that mail was received, and we probably know who sent it. Thats a world of difference from cryptographically signed transactions between known parties with known amounts.
    - rmbyrro 5y ago
      There's a reason why the saying goes as "follow the money" and not "follow the mail". Think about why and you'll understand why CBDC is Orwellian worst nightmare.
- goodluckchuck 5y ago
  A distributed ledger could prevent the central banks from cooking the books. Anyone and everyone could audit the fed. Can’t have that.
- drusepth 5y ago
  So what you're saying is they can finally just do my taxes for me?
  - ur-whale 5y ago
    > So what you're saying is they can finally just do my taxes for me? They will be able do that, not for you, but to you. And so much more.
  - mynegation 5y ago
    They will, but will also transfer a TurboTax licensing fee to Intuit automatically on your behalf.

WaxedChewbacca 5y ago

melony 5y ago

It is better for the government to run financial infrastructure. The restrictions imposed by PayPal and the banks on certain types of businesses can then be challenged in court.

rmbyrro 5y ago

Would also eliminate an incredible last grain of financial privacy people have. When every transaction goes through FED, the government won't need to call or subpoena anyone to know where your money come and go.

djbusby 5y ago
How does the Post remain private, since the Government runs that too?
- kingcharles 5y ago
  If you're interested in the technical answer, this is the SCOTUS case law that decided that postal mail was subject to the Fourth Amendment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_parte_Jackson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex_parte_Jackson
- salawat 5y ago
  They never open the package, and technically, they are quasi-public. Public enough that they can't play fast and loose like everyone else, but private where it matters in terms of not having literal Federally administered databases all just eafer for the reaping.
  - djbusby 5y ago
    Right. So, couldn't the central ledger be similar?
    - DennisP 5y ago
      If they don't require KYC for accounts, and maybe even use privacy tech like Monero or ZCash, then sure. How likely do you think that is?
  - wbsss4412 5y ago
    The fed is quasi public too? It’s actually less public than the postal service, the postal service is a fully public agency, the fed is partially governed by private banks.
    - dragonwriter 5y ago
      > the postal service is a fully public agency, the fed is partially governed by private banks. The Fed is fully governed by a federal agency. (The Fed Board of Governors). The individual regional Fed banks are private-public hybrids, but they don't govern the system.
      - wbsss4412 5y ago
        Nonetheless, given that the individual regional banks are have directors that are elected by the member banks, control over certain levels of fed policy are in a sense private, whereas that is nowhere true for the postal service. At least not to my knowledge.
  - dragonwriter 5y ago
    The USPS isn't quasi-public, it's fully public, an “independent” (meaning it has an Presidentially-appointed, Senate confirmed board with limits on degree of single-party domination) federal executive-branch agency.
- mistrial9 5y ago
  one secret there is, they can photo record every source addr<->dest addr from the post item face, for some or all of the delivery, for years and years without fail, keep those records, and then do investigative work from that.
  - tjfl 5y ago
    https://info.publicintelligence.net/USPS-MailCoverRequestsForm.pdf https://info.publicintelligence.net/USPS-MailCoverRequestsFo...
- dghlsakjg 5y ago
  With mail, the only information that is verifiable is the address that received the mail. The return address can be made up. Although the general area it is sent from is recorded in the form of zip code. The contents of the letter are also not known. So even if that info got out, there’s really not much information beyond the fact that mail was received, and we probably know who sent it. Thats a world of difference from cryptographically signed transactions between known parties with known amounts.
  - rmbyrro 5y ago
    There's a reason why the saying goes as "follow the money" and not "follow the mail". Think about why and you'll understand why CBDC is Orwellian worst nightmare.
goodluckchuck 5y ago
A distributed ledger could prevent the central banks from cooking the books. Anyone and everyone could audit the fed. Can’t have that.
drusepth 5y ago
So what you're saying is they can finally just do my taxes for me?
- ur-whale 5y ago
  > So what you're saying is they can finally just do my taxes for me? They will be able do that, not for you, but to you. And so much more.
- mynegation 5y ago
  They will, but will also transfer a TurboTax licensing fee to Intuit automatically on your behalf.