Fed's digital dollar is 'scary,' it's all about control over currency and economy, says Brien Lundin
(Kitco News) The Federal Reserve's digital dollar is a "scary" concept because it is all about having direct control over currency and economy, said Brien Lundin, executive editor of the Gold Newsletter and the New Orleans Investment Conference host.
As the Federal Reserve prepares to launch a review of a possible central bank digital currency (CBDC) shortly, U.S. citizens need to be aware of all the negative consequences that could come from a FedCoin.
"That's scary to me. You can already see the Federal Reserve beginning the PR campaign to soften the public up for a digital currency, a FedCoin. And they will talk about a lot of the advantages — transparencies of use, everything that you see from the blockchain technology. But behind all of that, there's control and the ability to control the economy, pull those levers more exactly and precisely than ever before," Lundin told Michelle Makori, editor-in-chief of Kitco News, on the sidelines of the New Orleans Investment Conference.
There are already new proposals out there that deal with monitoring bank accounts of everyday citizens, including all inflows and outflows of money, Lundin pointed out. "It's a control issue at bottom. And that is scary," he said.
On top of all the privacy fears, the adoption of a digital dollar could hurt the crypto space by taking away from its popular use-case argument.
"[The FedCoin] will be forced onto the U.S. economy — the use of Fed's version of crypto. That will take away a lot of the other supposed usages of crypto. And then you may even get regulation against the other ones to force adoption of the FedCoin," Lundin said.
There are a lot of pro-digital dollar arguments being pushed forward by the Fed already, including bringing the unbanked into the banking system, quicker transaction clearing, transparency, and accountability. But the public needs to fight this idea, Lundin argued.
"Governments always seek more control. That is their default, modus operandi," he said. "If you take a few baby steps in that direction, then all of a sudden you find yourself on a slide going much more quickly toward that direction. We need to fight this every small step along the way."
Watch the video above to get more insight into Lundin's thinking around currency devaluation and how gold and silver stand to benefit within the next 12 months. Follow Michelle Makori on Twitter: @MichelleMakori.
By Kitco NewsFor Kitco News
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