Why Fed Coin Is So Dangerous
Why Fed Coin Is So Dangerous
By Todd Strandberg
Over the past couple of years, I’ve read several articles about the government’s research into the usage of a digital currency that is commonly referred to as a Fed coin. It turns out the Fed has been studying the possibility of issuing a cashless currency, and it issued a report on the pros and cons of implementing such a system.
The Federal Reserve, on releasing its long-awaited exploration of a digital dollar, took no position on the issuance of a central bank digital currency. The Fed’s strange ambiguity regarding a Fed coin is a clear indication that they are definitely working on such a system.
Billed as “the first step in a public discussion between the Federal Reserve and stakeholders about central bank digital currencies,” the 40-page paper shies away from any conclusions about a central bank digital currency or CBDC. The report was originally expected in the summer of 2021 but had been delayed.
“The introduction of a CBDC would represent a highly significant innovation in American money,” the report says. “Accordingly, broad consultation with the general public and key stakeholders is essential. This paper is the first step in such a conversation.”
One primary difference between the Fed’s dollar and other digital transactions is that current digital money is a liability of commercial banks, whereas the CBDC would be a Fed liability. Among other things, that would mean the Fed wouldn’t pay interest on money stored with it, though because it is riskless, some depositors may prefer to keep their money with the central bank.
However, the report also states that it “is not intended to advance a specific policy outcome and takes no position on the ultimate desirability of” the digital dollar.
The motivation for a central bank digital currency has been the success of cryptocurrencies. Some unknown person started bitcoin nearly ten years ago, and it was recently around $2 trillion in value. Several nations had talked about creating their only digital currency. A couple of years ago, Venezuela said it was contemplating whether it should create its own digital currency. Because Venezuela was in dire financial straits at the time, it seemed appealing to create its own cryptocurrency. Since it would quickly become worthless by the minting of unlimited coins, the idea of Venezuela cryptocurrency quickly faded from the headlines.
A government’s appeal in creating a digital currency is the ability to control how it’s used by citizens. When the US government issued $3 trillion of stimulus money during the COVID-19 pandemic, the vast majority of the money was not spent. One report said that $2 trillion is still in people’s savings accounts.
If the Fed could issue a digital currency, and say, if you don’t spend this money by the end of the year, it will disappear, people would be in a mad rush to spend the money. The Fed could control what people spent their fed coins on. At first, they would stop people from spending their money on unhealthy things like beer and cigarettes, but then they would block anything that “the powers that be” don’t like.
A Fed coin would give the government incredible power to combat crime. The late author Hunt S. Thompson once wrote a check for $2 million to his drug dealer and wrote Cocaine in the memo. A shocked teller at the bank must have taken a picture of the check. With a Fed coin, government agents would be able to track and control the transaction of anyone who was known to be trafficking in drugs.
A Fed coin would be incredibly dangerous in the hands of a despotic government. It could monitor the accounts of all its enemies; it could track the activity of all citizens. If you bought a cup of coffee for someone on the government’s naughty list, the feds could come to you with questions.
I don’t know if Fed coin is going to be the system that the Antichrist will use to control the world. When bitcoin came out, some people speculated that it was the mark of the beast, but now there are 17,000 of these cryptocurrencies. The 666 system could come out of any financial institution. Technology has advanced to the point where a lot of people are probably wondering why we already don’t have a mark-like system.
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six” – (Revelation 13:16-18).
– Todd