In a recent episode of the podcast Joe Rogan Experience, popular podcast host Joe Rogan and rapper Post Malone took a skeptical stance on the United States central bank digital currency (CBDC). Garnering attention from millions of listeners per episode, Rogan described a CBDC as a “game over” scenario.
He painted a picture of how a powerful state could manipulate the digital dollar by tying it to citizens’ social credit scores. Such a scenario would allow the government to monitor individuals’ actions and control their finances, punishing non-compliant behaviour by cutting them off from their funds.
The conversation about CBDCs continues to be a prominent topic among the American public. Their potential implementation has made its way into U.S presidential campaigns, where Republican presidential candidate, Ron DeSantis, vowed to ban CBDCs in the U.S if elected. Meanwhile, Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized CBDCs for their control and promised to back the U.S. dollar with hard assets, including Bitcoin.
On the other side of the token, supporters of decentralized cryptocurrencies like Malone are opposed to the U.S government’s control over the flow of everyday people’s finances. This concern arises from fear that the government could, at any moment, cut off funding to individuals, much like the controversial decision the Canadian government made when they froze the bank accounts associated with the ‘Freedom Convoy’ truckers in early 2021.
Furthermore, Malone expressed worries about the banking system in the United States, recognizing that FDIC insurance only covers bank account values up to $250,000. Here, he draws attention to the safety offered by decentralized currencies, which aren’t bound by such restrictions.
Both ends of this situation pose significant questions: could a CBDC prove to be a tool of erosion for individual freedoms, as feared by Rogan? Or will it emerge as a uniting force for the largely decentralized financial system, as its proponents suggest? Deciding where we stand on this issue will be a critical point of discussion as the future of digital currencies unfolds.
Source: Cointelegraph
