3 ms·

Why? What problem does this solve? Our money is already digital; with my tinfoil hat on, this just seems to give the government way more control over the moneta

Why? What problem does this solve? Our money is already digital; with my tinfoil hat on, this just seems to give the government way more control over the monetary supply than it deserves.

gbalduzzi 3y ago
It avoids having companies (mastercard / visa) as digital currency middleman, taking a cut for every money you move.
nabla9 3y ago
Today only banks have ECB accounts. It allows individuals and regular business to have access into central bank money directly. (it's not mentioned anywhere, but if ECB wants to do quantitative easing in the future, it could give every EU citizen 100 EUR directly, so called helicopter money. It would be the most effective way to do monetary easing and would allow many negative effects of QE trough banks)
imtringued 3y ago
What do you mean by more? It already controls it. No CDBC proposal is about getting rid of banks or minimum reserve requirements below 100%. I understand the privacy concerns because bearer bonds are illegal or impossible to issue nowadays so getting rid of cash would be a death knell but that isn't your concern.
leobg 3y ago
Search HN for “Ask HN: Stripe froze my account”. Make no mistake, I don’t like the government. But at least I can sue the government if they do something that jeopardizes my business without a solid reason. With these private companies, posting a cry for help on HN is pretty much the only thing you can do.
- JimtheCoder 3y ago
  "But at least I can sue the government if they do something that jeopardizes my business without a solid reason. " What country are you from, if you don't mind sharing? To me, as a North American...this just sounds implausible.
  - leobg 3y ago
    Germany. We got our constitution from you (assuming you’re in the U.S.). The legal system is terrible, of course. But the state at least pretends to be bound by a constitution, and provides courts and procedures, e.g. for hearings. Companies like Stripe will ban you based on a bot’s decision. No human will ever hear as much as your voice in the process. And if you did sue them, they’d say “We’re private enterprise, we can choose who we do business with”.
- TurkishPoptart 3y ago
  "I can sue the government if they do something that jeopardizes my business without a solid reason." No, you can't. Maybe in Finland or someplace like that.

Why? What problem does this solve? Our money is already digital; with my tinfoil hat on, this just seems to give the government way more control over the monetary supply than it deserves.

gbalduzzi 3y ago

It avoids having companies (mastercard / visa) as digital currency middleman, taking a cut for every money you move.

nabla9 3y ago

Today only banks have ECB accounts. It allows individuals and regular business to have access into central bank money directly. (it's not mentioned anywhere, but if ECB wants to do quantitative easing in the future, it could give every EU citizen 100 EUR directly, so called helicopter money. It would be the most effective way to do monetary easing and would allow many negative effects of QE trough banks)

imtringued 3y ago

What do you mean by more? It already controls it. No CDBC proposal is about getting rid of banks or minimum reserve requirements below 100%. I understand the privacy concerns because bearer bonds are illegal or impossible to issue nowadays so getting rid of cash would be a death knell but that isn't your concern.

leobg 3y ago

Search HN for “Ask HN: Stripe froze my account”. Make no mistake, I don’t like the government. But at least I can sue the government if they do something that jeopardizes my business without a solid reason. With these private companies, posting a cry for help on HN is pretty much the only thing you can do.

JimtheCoder 3y ago
"But at least I can sue the government if they do something that jeopardizes my business without a solid reason. " What country are you from, if you don't mind sharing? To me, as a North American...this just sounds implausible.
- leobg 3y ago
  Germany. We got our constitution from you (assuming you’re in the U.S.). The legal system is terrible, of course. But the state at least pretends to be bound by a constitution, and provides courts and procedures, e.g. for hearings. Companies like Stripe will ban you based on a bot’s decision. No human will ever hear as much as your voice in the process. And if you did sue them, they’d say “We’re private enterprise, we can choose who we do business with”.
TurkishPoptart 3y ago
"I can sue the government if they do something that jeopardizes my business without a solid reason." No, you can't. Maybe in Finland or someplace like that.