According to Snowden, governments are judging bitcoin from a paternalistic point of view. The activist considers that the utility of the banks has decayed too much.
Edward Snowden described central bank digital currencies as an evil parallelism of decentralized bitcoin (BTC). According to the activist and former CIA agent, CBDCs are crypto-fascist items.
The computer specialist, who lives in Russia and is a fugitive from US justice for leaking thousands of documents classified as “top secret,” said these words on his blog some days ago.
Snowden strengthens his considerations on CBDCs by saying that they are contrary to the founding principles and protocols that rule cryptocurrencies.
He explained that these currencies got designed to deny their users the essential ownership of their money. Their goal is to install the State in the center as an intermediary for each transaction.
The 37-year-old computer scientist values privacy in all sectors, including financially. The activist also explained that transactions with CBDC get recorded in a vast state ledger that can be continuously scrutinized and eternally reviewed.
Snowden’s words are not mere assumptions. One of the most relevant cases is that of the digital Yuan. With this CBDC, which is in an advanced testing stage, total anonymity can not be possible.
The Government chooses who can have permission to access the centralized database in which transactions get recorded.
Attacks on Bitcoin
The publication of the former CIA agent refers to the decentralizing power of Bitcoin and other crypto-assets that allow the exchange of value without intermediaries. According to him, that is the sole reason why BTC is in the crosshairs of the traditional financial system.
Snowden argues that the market will inevitably turn into gambling shops and premises plagued by tax fraud, drug trade, and arms trafficking.
The individual privacy advocate highlights in his post that he is aware of the crime finance statistics. Although bitcoin is indeed a bridge for illicit transactions, the volume is small once it gets compared to the amount of fiat money used for this purpose, even through the banking system.
Snowden and the Decay of Traditional Banking
Finally, Snowden dedicated some thoughts to commercial banking. He described it as an inefficient and parasitic industry that has preyed on its customers with impunity backed by regular Fed bailouts, thanks to the dubious fiction that it is too great to fail.
The activist added that currently, the utility of banks has withered. According to him, the functions of these entities can get replicated and improved by an algorithm.
After talking about the decadence in banking systems, Snowden returned to the subject of CBDC and explained that a digital dollar would not improve anyone’s life compared to a dollar in cash or the equivalent of dollars in BTC or a stable coin.
The digital dollar is not an invention of Snowden but is a fact under consideration by the US authorities; there are even studies to determine its viability in financial systems worldwide.
By: Jenson Nuñez
