CBDCs and Social credit scores! What could go wrong?
Take a look at the three current classifications of CBDCs
In this entry of the current series, we will first examine three separate categories concerning the use of CBDCs; They are as follows:
1) Countries that are testing CBDCs in pilot projects:
-China
-Sweden
-Jamaica
-Ukraine
**Disclaimer: content is abundant on this particular topic. Consequently, I went through and picked out a few countries to dive deeper into.**
China:
Plugged into a regulatory framework, the ‘China social credit system’ (also known as ‘China’s Ranking System’) refers to a diverse network of initiatives to enhance the amount of ‘trust’ within Chinese society.
The goal of the social credit system is to make it easier for people and businesses to make fully-informed business decisions. A high social credit score indicates that a party can be trusted in a business context.
The system began with a focus on financial creditworthiness, similar to credit scores used in western countries, and moved on to include compliance and legal violations.
The eventual ‘end-state’ of the system is a unified record for people, businesses, and the government, which can be monitored in real-time.
In recent years, policy development for the social credit system has moved beyond considerations of financial creditworthiness and compliance to encompass a broader notion of trust.’
Sweden: DISCLAIMER TO FOLLOW THIS STATEMENT
- Sweden officially launched eKrona, the world’s second digital currency backed by a central bank. Since the beginning of September, the currency has been available on a trial basis with external clients on the official website created by the Swedish government so that citizens can buy and sell within the country or in stores abroad. Swedish bank Riksbank has clarified that eKrona is not a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin and others in the market. Although it uses blockchain technology, its function is basically to replace the physical bills or coins that exist in the country.
"According to GlobalData, the country that currently ranks fifth in the world among the least cash-using countries is “poised to be the first truly cashless society by 2023.
The use of cash has fallen to less than 10% in the economy, according to estimates by the Swedish central bank. The cash shortage, the convenience of electronic payments, and the pandemic accelerated this process."
Swedish digital currency article
DISCLAIMER
Reuters Thompson distributed an article about Sweden’s e-krona project. Likewise, the way things are intended to carry Europe’s national banks into the fate of the computerized business and retail installments. For some reason, this pilot project has been required to be postponed. Riksbank is the Sweden’s national bank. In addition, It has prompted the public that “no official conclusion” has been made concerning Ekrona Crypto. They are dealing with blockchain-based Swedish money. It will be a Distributed Ledger Technology. Uniquely, it’ll be the national bank digital money (CBDC). Accordingly, there is no e-Krona exists. It is certainly not a Swedish government cryptocurrency.
Unfortunately, scammers have chosen to swindle amateur financial investors. They have figured out how to gain a few exceptionally influential sites. They have named it “eKrona Crypto.” These fraudsters guarantee it as the government EKrona website. They also encourage individuals to purchase the phony Ekrona scam.
Disclaimer Citation link
2) Countries where CBDCs have been launched:
Nigeria
Eastern Caribbean Currency Union
The Bahamas
The Bahamas: was the first country to launch a global central bank digital currency (CBDC) called the “Sand dollar” in May last year. But the EKrona is the first digital currency to hit the market with the backing of a major economy. About 80% of central banks worldwide are also conducting pilot tests.
"According to the press statement, there are now $302,785.04 worth of Sand Dollars in circulation, 28,003 digital wallets using them, and about 845 merchants accepting them."
"Sand Dollar is the digital version of the Bahamian dollar (B$). Like cash, Sand Dollar is issued by the Central Bank of The Bahamas through authorized financial institutions (AFIs). Sand Dollar allows greater flexibility and accessibility for residents who want to participate in financial services via either a mobile phone application (iOS and Android) or a physical payment card to access a digital wallet. It also provides an excellent record of income and spending, which can be used as supporting data for micro-loan applications."
“In a world going cashless and digital, the Sand Dollar is crucial to ensuring equitable economic participation in communities across our archipelago.”
You see this mentality pushed more and more as time progresses on the CBDC time clock.
They make it palpable for the consumer to gravitate towards it out of convenience.
All you have to do is buy this, implant that, and utilize this! Before you know it, you’re knee-deep and can’t turn back from it. Technically speaking, you can, in some cases. But once you’ve opened pandora’s box and experienced the ease of utilizing said tech…
You find it hard to go back to the “arduous” method of doing it. Case in point I recently got a new laptop with biometrics for sign-in purposes. Now, instead of going through the technique, I would use for my prior laptop. All I need now to sign in is a digit!
In time, it will become second nature, and soon after, I’ll never want to go back to the previous method. And it’s much like that with tech or houseware gadgets, generally speaking. As a people group, we tend to prefer the quickest, most efficient manner of completing various tasks throughout our daily lives.
Yet another example for those of you old enough to remember it.
When I was a kid, I had to memorize telephone numbers physically. Or my family would keep them in a handwritten phone book. And if you didn’t know the number, you would look in the yellow pages. There was no google to look up websites or phone numbers. So consequently, we had a greater capacity to remember phone numbers and the like. Then along came somebody with a brilliant idea, which took off! Lo and behold, here we are today. That was, of course, a massive increase in tech that gradually progressed bit by bit. Here we are today, where our simple smartphones have more computing power than a room full of computers in NASA had in, say, the 80s.
3) Lastly, Countries where CBDCs are in development:
India
Eurozone
The US
The U.S:
First, let’s explain for those unfamiliar with a CBDC or those tuning in for the first time. “A CBDC is essentially a cryptocurrency run entirely by a central bank. This makes it different from cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are popular today. Cryptocurrencies are global digital public ledgers of transactions, or in other words, a big online public spreadsheet of payments that anyone can see or use. A key component of most is that they’re built around a decentralized structure, meaning that they’re run by a large and diverse set of entities with no one party able to control the network. Also, they’re pseudonymous, meaning users aren’t tied to real-world identities. Much of the crypto industry’s innovation involves efficiently making a decentralized system work. A CBDC, on the other hand, isn’t decentralized and therefore doesn’t need to deal with the limitations of most cryptocurrencies. The public ledger would be managed by one group, which decides who gets to use it and under which conditions. Also, all accounts and transactions would be linked to real-world identities.”
This is one reason CBDCs are not engineered in our favor regarding this expression. "Putting the foxes in the hen house."
Fears of moving to a social credit system aren’t overblown, either. “Already, we’re starting to see our behavior and politics start to be used against us to restrict our ability to use our own money. PayPal recently implemented a policy allowing them to confiscate $2,500 of user funds if they commit violations of the terms of service, including spreading “false, inaccurate or misleading information,” a policy that was quickly pulled following mass outcry but subsequently reinstated when the furor died down.”
“Visa has begun flagging firearms purchases, allowing the payments giant to single out law-abiding gun owners. And countless voices expressing dangerous viewpoints have been de-platformed from various financial services, including Info Wars experiencing mass de-platforming, YouTube creators expressing particular COVID views and losing their monetization status, and endless other examples.”
This, in theory, wouldn’t be such a big deal because people for decades have always done business with those who have accepted their money without red tape. In return, the consumer has enjoyed doing business with them as well.
But now, in today’s politically correct, sensitive sally world where if you call a spade a spade, you’re categorized as some “ISM,” it’s growing increasingly hostile to those willing to toe the line and speak the truth despite the personal or financial injury to self. Have there been legitimate instances of people taking it too far or just being flat-out “mentally unstable?” <I’m looking at you, Kanye West>
Yes, there have been.
Despite that, more often than not, the people speaking out against injustices are those who have legitimate skin in the game!
Or have fallen victim to the twenty-first century’s version of slander and “defamation of character.” Essentially based on the left’s definition of what right and wrong are.
Which quite literally is pegged as all-inclusive, don’t tell anyone the truth about their failures and shortcomings. Everyone’s a winner; there are more genders than God created!
I digress!
Things would most assuredly be drastically different under a CBDC regime when we’re staring down an administration that controls the Issuance of the national currency and the “social credit score rating system” and is consequently in charge of how or what the general populace will spend their CBDCs on! Houston, we have a problem…!
Think on this for a second; we could find ourselves in a society where this could be a reality » “Express the wrong opinions? You can be deemed at risk of domestic terrorism and barred from accessing the gun store merchant category. Vote the wrong way? Hate speech, you’re barred from spending anything on media and advertising, which could advance your “problematic” messaging. What if you hold the “correct” views but some friends and family members don’t? Tracing interaction with flagged accounts and funds will be trivial, placing you under suspicion. Lastly, stimulus payments can be airdropped directly into people’s accounts based on economic need, minority group status, or other factors.”
So, essentially if you’re of a particular background or demographic, you could be discredited and barred from gaining a stimulus check or other benefits solely based on whether or not you made “Upstanding, party-driven, ethical, moral, political, social” choices.
The privately-issued USD Coin programmatically can’t be sent to a banned list of recipients, a list which has more than tripled this year alone.
CBDCs are coming to the US.
I don’t know about you, but if you’re chasing down the information, disseminating it, and staying aware of the political-economic standings in the world today, you should be utterly terrified for this to come to fruition! Especially if you’re familiar with what’s happening in China and what has been for some time now regarding the “social credit scoring system.” You should be terrified! And if you’re not, it’s likely you either haven’t been paying attention, or you’re just unaware of what the ultimate goal is here for the people at the top! In which case, WAKE UP! and stay away from the voting booths! We don’t need your uninformed vote! Although realistically speaking, all that will accomplish is temporarily delaying the inevitable. Because we know the ultimate direction we as a people are headed biblically. And quite frankly, it’s going to get bumpy!
With that, I’ll leave my closing remarks.
Stay alert, stay vigilant, and Keep your eyes on the sky!
We live in exciting times.