Bank of Canada Holds CBDC Survey with Shady Lack of Answer Choices
Co-published on Publish0x and Zirkels.
It is not a secret that governments around the world are trying to implement CBDCs or Centralized Bank Digital Currencies. They advertise CBDCs as cash, but better. You can buy products in-person or online; you can transfer CBDCs to friends and family; CBDCs are accessible to everyone; and CBDCs protect the user's privacy.
However, if you have read my past content, you are familiar with my opposition against CBDCs and in general, centralization. Back in last October, payment processor PayPal tried to sneak in a policy that would fine users $2,500 for 'misinformation', a term that has been widely misused for political purposes. In the US, the SEC arbitrarily deemed crypto staking as securities and went after Kraken and Coinbase because they offered such services.
I surmised that the SEC's hostility against crypto staking and the US government's irresponsible spending pointed towards establishing an environment where a USD CBDC will have no competition. With that much centralized power, I find it highly doubtful that the Federal Reserve (and the US government, in general) will not abuse its authority. For instance, back in February 2023, the Bank of England proposed a £10,000–£20,000 holding limit per person for the digital pound. Well... the Bank of England is not the only one who is proposing such an idea...
Link: https://twitter.com/WatcherGuru/status/1622988431142920192?s=20
On May 9, 2023, the Bank of Canada opened a survey for public consultation on a potential Canadian dollar CBDC. When looking at the replies to its announcement tweet, the majority of the comments were negative. One described the survey as an illusion of choice while others pointed out at the authoritarianism behind the CBDC. One individual noted that in one of the survey questions, "the ability to send money anonymously" was not an answer choice. In addition, the question asks if the respondent wants to hold and receive a limited amount of money anonymously.
In addition, the survey named private digital currencies as one of things that can compromise the role of the Canadian dollar in the nation's economy. This implies that the Bank of Canada and the Canadian government have a cold stance towards Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other coins.
The concerns are not unfounded. After all, the Trudeau government imposed rather strict COVID mandates including vaccine passports and when protesters opposed the mandates, the prime minster vowed to freeze their bank accounts. The draconian measures now look substantially worse with the scientific data available to us. Jefferson et al. (2023) from the Cochrane Library found that surgical masks did not reduce the risk of respiratory infection in a statistically significant way. A seroprevalence meta-analysis from Pezzullo et al. (2023) found that the infection fatality rate of non-immune, non-vaccinated individuals from the alpha variant was only 0.034% among 0-59 year olds and of 0.097% for 0-69 year olds. A Johns Hopkins University study concluded that lockdowns did not reduce COVID mortality in a statistically significant way. The virus mutates every 3-4 months and expresses significant immune escape from old vaccines, making the idea of vaccine passports absolutely foolish.
Point being, with the Canadian government's already-established history of authoritarianism and unscientific policies, a Canadian dollar CBDC will be a danger to financial freedom. Heck, all CBDCs are a danger to everyone's financial freedom. It is paramount that one has ownership over his/her assets and not put it in the care of an irresponsible, hostile 3rd party. That means holding onto precious metals, investing in property, keeping your private keys safe, and so on.
