A blockchain is a system in which a record of transactions, especially those made in cryptocurrency, is maintained across computers that are linked in a peer-to-peer network. The digital monetary world is closer than you think. In December 2021, the ECB titled their occasional paper series Central Bank Digital Currency: functional scope, pricing, and controls. Digital dollars are right around the corner. In January 2022, the Federal Reserve Bank came out with their research and analysis called Money and Payments: The US Dollar in the Age of Digital Transformation. The NY Fed launched a 12-week CBDC pilot program with major banks in November of 2022. Our monetary system is headed in the digital direction.
The movement to digital money is being done because of speed and efficiency.
That’s what the governments are telling us. We all know it’s about control and privacy. Project Cedar is a program started by the NY Fed recently to develop a technical framework for a theoretical wholesale central bank digital currency in the Federal Reserve context. Phase I of Project Cedar is a prototype for a wholesale central bank digital currency. This was developed to demonstrate the potential of blockchain to improve the speed, cost, and access to a critical element of the wholesale cross-border payments market. Let’s cut to the chase, it is about control and data collection. Digital money destroys any financial privacy that we have left.
Estonia put government records on a blockchain in 2012
Estonia became the first country to use blockchain technology for governance in 2012. This was in response to their centralized data management system being hacked in 2007. Estonia’s blockchain system today is used for supply chains to fight injustice. In Estonia, citizens only need to input their personal information once: the blockchain system enables the relevant data to be immediately accessible to the required department. Citizens have a digital ID card and approve which part of their information can be reused by which public service. The program allows anyone in the world to apply for a digital ID, which can be used to access Estonian e-services such as e-tax and e-health. I guess the residents of Estonia don’t mind sharing all of their information and having zero financial privacy.
Many national governments have digital record keeping
Sweden decided to move its land registry to blockchain in 2016, previously, it was already the world’s most developed land registry (Biasolo, 2017), facilitating digital signatures, personalized verifications, and digital contracts to mitigate the risk of incorrect registries and increased trust between actors. Dubai moved its judicial system to function on blockchain technology. Coined the Court of Blockchain, the network uses smart contracts to improve Dubai’s legal system. National governments in Honduras, Ghana, and Georgia have pursued blockchain-based systems for property records, in addition to local projects in places like El Salvador.
Some US state services are already on the blockchain
New York City, Chicago’s Cook County, and South Burlington, Vermont, have all explored or deployed programs to put property records on blockchains. California is moving to put car title records on the chain. Yes, the California DMV is on the blockchain. Washoe County, Nevada, will verify your marriage certificate online using a blockchain. Rhode Island’s Department of Commerce is currently looking for vendors to help it integrate records from agencies across state governments into a single blockchain-based system.
Blockchain services will lead to more digital systems worldwide. More digital systems worldwide will lead to more digital wallets. More digital wallets will mean digital dollars. Digital dollars will mean no financial privacy left for us regular folks. It will mean a lot of control and data collection for governments. Governments will be able to turn our money on or off whenever they please. Digital dollars will be even easier to create out of thin air and devalue. The system will be that much easier to crash with a push of a button or the click of a computer mouse.
Every single American should be pulling some of their money out of the banks, bonds, and out of the stock market and converting it into some physical gold. The financial system and our dollar are that bad. Protecting our purchasing power and our financial privacy is that important. As the digital monetary system progresses, our financial privacy and safety are quickly disappearing. Do you honestly want all of your business and all of your money in a blockchain system? Well, it is where we are headed. Your chance to do something about it is now.
