NEW YORK — Early into the so-called COVID pandemic, analysts warned that the vaccine passport was a camouflaged first step of forcing digital IDs and CDBCs – Central Bank Digital Currencies – on the global population.
Now, the Federal Reserve is launching a 12-week “proof-of-concept” program for a digital dollar. The project is carried out in cooperation with Mastercard, Citigroup, HSBC and Wells Fargo.
“ABSOLUTE CONTROL”
Agustin Carstens, head of “central banks of central banks” – the Bank for International Settlements in Switzerland – has stated that a CBDC cannot be compared with cash.
“There is a huge difference there. In cash, we don’t know for example who’s using a one-hundred-dollar bill today, who is using a one-thousand-peso bill today… The difference with the CBDC is that the central bank will have absolute control on the rules and regulations that will determine the use of that expression of central bank liability,” Carstens said.
“RESTRUCTURE THE WORLD”
World leaders and their unelected partners in international organizations such as the World Economic Forum and corporations like Microsoft – which has come to be known as “public-private partnership” – are following the “Great Reset” agenda to completely “restructure the world” according to an authoritarian corporatist model, similar to what we see in China, where the state is in full control of citizens’ lives by means of a social credit system.
The declaration signed by G20 members in connection with the recent meeting in Bali, Indonesia, contains language which indicates that politicians have decided to push for the introduction of CBDCs – although they’re not ready to roll them out quite yet.
“We also welcome the joint report by the BIS CPMI, BISIH, IMF, and World Bank on options for access to and interoperability of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) for cross-border payments,” section 27 of the declaration reads.
Leading up to the Bali meeting, a CBDC prototype competition was held, and one of the winners was IDEMIA, a company whose mission statement reads: “As the leader in identity technologies, IDEMIA is on a mission to unlock the world and make it safer.”
CAN BE TURNED OFF BY THOSE IN POWER
“Going direct” would eliminate retail banks as citizens would become hostages of central banks. A digital currency tied to a digital ID could have access turned off or on by those in power, and unaccountable elites could get full control of individuals’ movements, housing and spending and would be a complete end to economic freedom.
Catherine Austin-Fitts, an investment banker who served as Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development in the first Bush administration, has been outspoken against CBDCs.
“Your access to your financial assets can be turned off if you don’t do what you’re told,” Austin-Fitts stated in an interview earlier this year.
CONTROL MOVEMENTS AND SPENDING
This type of financial punishment of persons or entities causing problems for governments has already been seen in several parts of the world during recent years. In China, where a social credit score has been implemented in the form of a QR-code based cell phone app, authorities can exercise detailed control over citizens’ movements and spending. It’s based on a color-coded system, and if the app turns red you can lose access to transportation, the ability to buy food and even gain access to your own home.
In Canada, when truckers protested against COVID measures taken by the government, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the War Measures Act to block protestors’ access to their own bank accounts, along with numerous other actions. Trucks were impounded and insurance plans suspended. Although not as comprehensive as in China, the Canadian governments’ actions against citizens whose views they found unacceptable can perhaps be seen as a warning of things to come, should the plans for CBDCs be implemented in the West.
DEPENDENT ON DIGITAL ID
The launch of CBDCs would first be dependent on the implementation of a digital ID. Some Western countries already have this system. For example, in Sweden, you can’t do banking or access many public and private services without first signing in with an app called BankID – which is tied to your social security number.
Last week, ten lobby groups, including the Identity Theft Resource Center and the Better Identity Coalition called on Congress to pass the Improving Digital Identity Act of 2022. This act would mandate the government to develop federal digital ID infrastructure in the U.S. The bill has passed committee but is yet to be voted on.
The argument that’s often used to promote digital IDs is that it would reduce the risk of identity theft and financial fraud for consumers – that it would provide more safety and security for citizens. Critics, however, argue that digital IDs would enable the government and corporations to gain more control over and access to individuals’ personal information.
“FAR FROM COMPLETION”
A confidential source inside one of the central banks tells The Florida Standard that the introduction of CBDCs in Western countries is at least several years away. The data architecture behind these payment systems is based on blockchain technology, like cryptocurrency.
“There are still many hurdles when it comes to the technologies. At this time there are separate prototype projects running and they are far from completion. We are encountering many problems and there are not yet any clear solutions” the person tells The Florida Standard.
