Bitcoin vs CBDCs with Marty Bent - WBD692

Marty Bent is a Venture Partner at Ten31, founder of the
Bitcoin-focused media company TFTC.io, and Director of Cathedra
Bitcoin. In this interview, we discuss the potential
implementation of a global financial system based on CBDCs and
the role of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS). We also
talk about the potential role of Bitcoin in fighting against
state actors.


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CBDCs are the unwanted concomitants of Satoshi’s innovation: the
state’s answer to the settlement improvements offered by Bitcoin,
without any of the fundamental design features predicated on
protecting individuals in the digital age. They represent
everything Satoshi was working against: the chance for the state
to fully capture and control people’s use of money with all of
the inherent dangers to democracy and individual liberty that
this brings.


Technological developments akin to CBDCs were always going to
manifest, but, it is obviously not a coincidence that work on
them accelerated in the shadow of Bitcoin. For over a century,
governments, central banks and other centralising institutions
have had an unfettered ability to control and manipulate money;
money printing and inflation rigged the system in favour of the
dealer. Bitcoin offers a chance for a new and fairer system.


Whilst it is easier for those with knowledge to identify the
extreme contrast between the two forms of money, it is also clear
how and why people believe CBDCs are a good idea. The state has
an asymmetric power in pushing narratives; promoting the benefits
of having the utility of instant digital transactions that
safeguards against paedophiles, terrorists and money launders,
will certainly seem like an incontestable advancement. It’s just
that we know this isn’t the purpose.


The ring leader in this global effort to retain central authority
over money is being led by the Bank of International Settlements.
The BIS is behind a number of pilot projects that sound like they
were devised by a megalomaniac James Bond villain (Project
Rosalind, Project Polaris). Playing the role of Blofeld is
Agustín Carstens.


In 2022 Mr Carstens stated “the soul of money belongs neither to
a big tech nor to an anonymous ledger. The soul of money is
trust… central banks have been and continue to be the
institutions best placed to provide trust in the digital age.”
Carstens believes that technology can’t make trusted money. He is
expecting us to ignore the evidence of history where institutions
have repeatedly abused the trust bestowed on them. And he is
asking us to ignore Bitcoin.


 


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