Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are SpyCoins.

The creation and use of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are not lofty ideas or conspiratorial, it is an actively and openly studied academic discipline and multi-central bank initiative. 90% of the world's central banks now working on digital currencies. They are coming - and they will not be a good thing. They aim to replace paper notes, cash, and coins, with ‘digital cash’ that can be held and directly issued by the state - not requiring an intermediary.

They are VERY different than the existing system of ones PayPal balance or bank account amount that are ‘digital’, as those are just forms of M1 money, where a commercial bank is performing money creation (through double-entry accounting via approving loans to simultaneously generate an asset (debt they own) and a liability (deposit balances they owe to bank customers)). CBDCs aim to cut that middle-manning out, and while it might save some hassle and tax money, the Cons outweigh the Pros.

CBDC’s will be sold as a “more convenient way” to hold fiat and as a replacement for coins and cash as it will “eventually remove the risks associated with cash”.

But if it’s all digital and on THEIR ledger, would you ever really be taking money out of the banking system? Or would you just be TRAPPED inside their ledger no matter what form of money you held? [Besides of course – crypto]

One of the most important qualities of Cash and Crypto is that they are bearer assets that can be anonymously transferred between entities. CBDC will not allow for this and will not have privacy preserving characteristics – quite the opposite - they will enable more surveillance and further erode financial privacy.

China’s eCNY efforts have yet to prove they will be any cheaper, more efficient, more private, or any more convenient than the existing domestic and international payment systems.

There is even an increased lending cost at risk from a decrease in bank lending, as well as an increase in more expensive market-based financing. CBDC systems could suffer from outages and cyber-attacks - they have obvious potential to be used as tools of surveillance and control by governments as every transaction is recordable – they could put expiry dates on your CBDCs - limit how much you can hold – vary your interest rates and prices depending on who you are – prevent you from purchasing certain things - automatically deduct fines... the list goes on!

TLDR; CBDC pose financial, economic, and human rights risks to all consumers that are potentially severe if designed badly or with bad intent.