The world’s major powers are locked in a race to develop and issue a globally dominant central bank digital currency (CBDC), citing the need to increase the efficiency of payments and combat money laundering. However, opponents warn that government-backed digital currencies and freedom are incompatible.
One vocal opponent of the government’s answer to the innovations that spawned from the cryptocurrency sector is civil liberties attorney Marta Belcher, who tells me, “I have serious concerns about the privacy and civil liberties implications of CBDCs, they put governments at the centre of every transaction, giving them absolute visibility into financial transactions and the ability to revoke money”.
