The worst part about central bank digital currency, or CBDC, is that it’s controlled by a central bank. The Federal Reserve is taking the first step toward implementing a CBDC by rolling out its new FedNow service, which will debut in July. Jeff Cox reports on CNBC:
FedNow, as it will be known, will create “a leading-edge payments system that is resilient, adaptive, and accessible,” said Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin, who is the program’s executive sponsor.
The system will allow bill payments, money transfers such as paychecks and disbursements from the government, as well as a host of other consumer activities to move more rapidly and at lower cost, according to the program’s goals.
Participants will complete a training and certification process in early April, according to a Fed announcement.
“With the launch drawing near, we urge financial institutions and their industry partners to move full steam ahead with preparations to join the FedNow Service,” said Ken Montgomery, the program executive and first vice president at the Boston Fed, which helped spearhead the project under former Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren.
Institutions that participate in the program will have seven-day, 24-hour access, as opposed to a system currently in place that closes on weekends.
Program advocates say it will get money out to people much more quickly. For instance, they said, government payments like those issued in the early days of the Covid pandemic would have been credited to accounts immediately rather than the days it took to reach most people.
Some Fed officials say the program even could supplant the need for a central bank digital currency.
Look at the last line carefully: “Some Fed officials say the program even could supplant the need for a central bank digital currency.” As though there is a need for a CBDC at all.
Action Line: When the government controls your money, it controls what you do. At the end of 2022, there were over 4,000 banks in the United States. But there’s only one central government. If you disagree with your bank, you take your money somewhere else. In a complete CBDC system, there’s no need for commercial banks; only the central bank clears transactions and holds deposits. If you disagree with your government, where can you take your money when there are no banks left? See the danger now? Click here to subscribe to my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter. We’ll weather this storm together.
