Digital Currencies for Nation-States
In the episode titled “CBDCs, bitcoin and nation state adoption with Samson Mow,” Mow, who currently operates mainly from his offices in Shanghai, explains in detail the implications of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which are digital currencies created by national or international central banks, on individual freedom. He compares them to a form of lockdown applied to money.
Mow highlights that CBDCs enable total and centralized control of personal finances by governments, from monitoring transactions to implementing measures like negative interest rates and currency expiration dates. Continuing his discussion and comparing CBDCs with Bitcoin, Mow emphasizes the free and “permissionless” nature of the world’s most famous cryptocurrency: a form of money free from any form of centralized control, unlike CBDCs, which are essentially fiat currency, like the currently used cash and cards, only more controlled.
The episode, which we recommend you enjoy in its entirety, also touches on the theme of the possible and desirable adoption of Bitcoin by nation-states and politically organized communities, whose involvement can remove knowledge barriers and promote the use of a system with enormous advantages. In this regard, Mow, while praising the Lugano experience, further underscores Bitcoin’s potential to improve individual finances and positively influence government structures themselves because “Bitcoin makes people better” and can impact those who manage public affairs, promoting a genuinely fairer and less authoritarian approach.
