When the White House announces it is working on a plan to alter a critical portion of the US economy with “maximum urgency,” it should go without saying that the press should be paying close attention.
Even more crucial, the media should gladly and thoroughly enlighten the public on the potential dangers of such a proposal. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case now, and the consequences of the media’s indifference could last for decades.
The Biden administration issued an executive order (EO) on March 9 asking a broad range of federal agencies to investigate digital assets and submit a number of studies and ideas to regulate them. The executive order spends a lot of time talking about cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and ethereum, which are based on blockchain technology and have grown in popularity among investors and consumers in recent years.
But there’s a section of the EO that’s much more significant: President Biden has directed the federal government and the Federal Reserve to build the basis for a possible new US currency, the digital dollar.
If the US adopts a digital currency like the one mentioned in Biden’s executive order, it would be one of the most significant extensions of federal power ever, putting individuals and corporations in great danger of losing their social and economic liberties.
Several federal departments, including the Treasury Department, are directed to research the development of a new central bank digital currency (CBDC) and publish a report within 180 days of the EO outlining the possible dangers and benefits of a digital dollar, among other things.
The order also instructs the Treasury Department, Attorney General’s Office, and Federal Reserve to collaborate on a “legislative proposal” to develop a digital currency within 210 days, or nearly seven months.
A digital dollar would not only be a digital duplicate of the existing US dollar, but an altogether new currency that would coexist with the current currency, at least at first. The CBDC, like currency, would be used to pay for goods and services and would most likely be managed by the Federal Reserve, the US central bank.
Cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technology, which is designed to be decentralised. Once cryptocurrencies are introduced, no organisation or individual can genuinely control them.
Traceable and programmable digital dollars, on the other hand. The Federal Reserve (or another designated body) would be able to issue more digital dollars whenever it saw fit, and the dollars might be designed to have various regulations and constraints incorporated into their architecture, depending on how the legislation establishing the currency is written.
There are several grounds to believe that Biden’s idea for a digital currency contains a design that gives the federal government and/or the Federal Reserve influence over vast segments of society and the economy.
According to Biden’s executive order, the CBDC, as well as other rules governing digital assets, must reduce “climate change and pollution” and promote “financial inclusion and equity.”
