What is a CBDC? and FedNow?

Central Banks are Going Completely Digital - Goodbye to Cash

it’s already in the trial stage in some cities in China, and even the US is starting to try it plus a discussion on whether this could be the mark of the beast in the apocalypse/Revelation a couple comments from Lee Turner’s book on Revelation …and where does this leave Bitcoin?

the digital plan

I just read an article in the Vision Times by Neil Campbell about the U.S. government plan to introduce the digital dollar and move us the rest of the way to a cashless society. Actually, we’re almost there. CBDC  stands for Central Bank Digital Currency.

about Vision Times

The Vision Times ‘about’ page explains who they are and where they’re coming from. You wouldn’t be reading my substack articles unless you’re interested in free speech, so I heartily recommend Vision Times to you.

“Vision Times was founded in 2001 as an outlet to provide the overseas Chinese-speaking community a source of information free from the “one voice” propaganda of the Chinese Communist Party. Our English edition broadens this mission to include coverage on the stories and angles that are all too often suppressed, twisted, or simply ignored in today’s informational environment.”

“At Vision Times, we are committed to the universal traditional values that have shaped and guided humanity for thousands of years. In our news reporting and analysis, we bring you insight on the most important issues affecting our society and world; in our lifestyle and cultural features, we look to the wisdom of the past as a mirror for the future.”

the CCP

Notice they are familiar with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The CCP already has a CBDC, and is starting to use it to control their citizens. If the control of money is centralized, the ability to buy and sell will be in the control of the government.

the danger

From Bitcoin Magazine Oct.3 2022, “The Dangerous Implications of CBDCs” by Natalie Smolenski with Dan Held

“CBDCs are digital cash. Unlike traditional (physical) cash, which can be transacted anonymously, digital cash is fully programmable. This means that CBDCs enable central banks to have direct insight into the identities of transacting parties and can block or censor any transaction” (emphasis mine).

"…The ability to block and censor transactions also implies its opposite; the ability to require or incentivize transactions. A CBDC could be programmed to only be spendable at certain retailers or service providers, at certain times, by certain people (again, emphasis mine). The government could maintain lists of “preferred providers” to encourage spending with certain companies over others and “discouraged providers” to punish spending with others. In other words, with a CBDC, cash effectively becomes a state-issued token, like a food stamp, that can only be spent under predefined conditions…

…But censoring, discouraging and incentivizing transactions are not the only powers available to central banks with programmable cash. Banks can also disincentivize saving — holding digital cash — by capping cash balances (as the Bahamas have already done for their CBDC) or by imposing “penalty” (negative) interest rates on balances over a certain amount.”

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China is doing it already

In an article about China’s launch of a digital yuan, Reuters writes

“This would help them track any illicit flows of funds, such as money laundering or terrorist financing, and it would also allow them to experiment by targeting monetary policy interventions on specific economic classes, regions or other groups.” (more emphasis mine)

international transactions will be affected

The effect that a Chinese CBDC will have on international transactions is a story for another day. Maybe I’ll write about it soon. Suffice it to say for now that the digital Yuan will be sovereign and safe from any international monetary sanctions, so it will give Communist China even more power.

more from the Vision Times article: FedNow

“FedNow is a system that will centralize all banking. Everything will go through the Federal Reserve Bank. The lead-in trial is scheduled to be launched as soon as this month! They will start with “early adopter” banks who “complete a customer testing and certification program”.

“Although FedNow is a processing tool for the U.S. dollar and doesn’t have an immediate connection to any kind of potential Federal Reserve or Department of Treasury issued CBDC, the system immediately installs two critical features of centralization into the banking system that pave the way for potential degeneration into a Chinese Communist Party-style social credit system.”

Supposedly the motivation behind centralized digital currency control is to limit fraud and money laundering…

“The anti-fraud document [on the FedNow site] explains that in addition to transaction limits of a maximum $500,000 through FedNow, there will also be blacklists…”

In Fedspeak, blacklists are “participant-specific negative lists”. LOL (except it’s not really funny, is it?)

“These blacklists, the document explains, will lead to an effective lockout from the financial system, “If a payment message fails a business validation check against a negative list enabled by either the sending or receiving FedNow participant, the Federal Reserve Banks will reject the payment message.”

“FedNow will directly reject both outgoing and incoming payments to blacklisted accounts.”

where does this leave Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is already a global digital currency. National borders are practically invisible to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency transactions. For this reason, Central Banks will see it as competition. The outcome is uncertain. Bitcoin users don’t have as much anonymity as was first thought. Every transaction is transparently posted on the blockchain which is available to anyone on the internet. The parties of the transaction aren’t named, but the flow of the digital currency can be traced until it’s cashed in to a fiat* currency, at which point identity can be found with a subpoena served on the bank where it was cashed.

* “fiat” means “by decree”. It’s worth whatever the government says it is. So they’re free to inflate to their hearts content, whether it’s paper or digital. Bitcoin, on the other hand, was deliberately programmed to be a fixed quantity which cannot be devalued by inflating it. That’s why it’s sometimes called “digital gold”.

At present, Bitcoin (BTC) and other crypto is mostly held like gold as an inflation hedge, and not used very widely for actual buying and selling of commodities. If more vendors accept BTC, and it becomes widely used, so that it would be easy to buy and sell things with it, there would be no need to convert it to fiat money like US dollars. At that point, Bitcoin might turn the tables on the central banks and make them obsolete.

How CBDCs will affect us

Complete central digital control of our money means we won’t be able to buy or sell anything unless the federal government “approves” our transactions.

this sounds a little like the mark of the beast, but it’s not quite…

“…they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.” Revelation13:17

from “Revelation Ilustrated, An Artist’s View of the Bible’s Last Book”, by Pat Marvenko Smith

In Revelation, also called the “apocalypse” or “revealing”, there are several end times evil, anti-god entities that are world-wide and not limited to acting in only one nation. From chapter 12 on, there is the dragon (the devil), the first beast coming out of the sea, the second beast coming from the earth, and Babylon the Great, which rides the first beast (ch.17). It is the second beast that gives everyone the mark that has to do with buying and selling. We’re not there yet because we still haven’t seen the full appearance of the first beast, which will speak “blasphemies against God”, and “make war with the saints and …overcome them” and have “…authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation…” see Rev.13:5-7.

We don’t know exactly what the mark of the second beast will be, (it’s described as a mark on the forehead or the right hand, but that very well could be symbolic ) -see Rev.13:11,16; but I do understand that this prophecy and revelation from God says there will be a time near the end when only people who worship the “beast” will be able to buy or sell.

Lee Turner comments:

“Those who will have successfully and boldly eluded [being marked by the beast] will be able to survive only by furtively participating in a crude, secretly operated underground economy, a barter system through which only the most basic items will occasionally and erratically be available.” from “Revelation Verse by Verse”, B.L.Turner, comment on 13:17, p.210.

“Perhaps this worship was not deliberate and overt but was worship in essence through submission to the beast…” ibid., re 13:4, p.199

the global tendency

There are already about 60 nations planning on implementing CBDCs.

It does look like a global CBDC could have something to do with the Beast in
Revelation, if melded into the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), described as a “bank for central banks”, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) the World Bank, and the UN. At present, the IMF and the World Bank have a nice-sounding mission of “helping developing countries improve their living standards”. If these institutions get together and start a world digital currency, the ultimate CBDC, they could have absolute control over the whole world.

the Christian response

Regardless as to whether a one-world CBDC turns out to be the mark of the beast or not, the real test is when a Christian is ordered to do something that goes against God’s Word. If that happens, those who refuse to bow down will be persecuted, but they will have the ultimate victory - eternity in heaven with Jesus.

“And I saw something like a sea of glass mixed with fire, and those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, holding harps of God.” Rev.15:2

"The Seven Vial (Bowl) Judgments (Rev.15), from “Revelation Ilustrated, An Artist’s View of the Bible’s Last Book”, by Pat Marvenko Smith

a word of encouragement

I love the way Pat Marvenko Smith herself puts it in her book:

“If the book of Revelation frightens you, please keep in mind that its message was originally given to comfort and to give hope and encouragement to Christians under great persecution. It assures us that those who do the persecuting and those who reject the Lord are the ones who will be dealt with severely, for eternity. But God’s children will be saved.

be careful where you put your trust

Don’t depend on the federal government to protect your present life-style. I’m reminded of the joke “My wife made me a millionaire – before I married her, I was a billionaire.” Fortunately, it doesn’t matter, because we’re only passing through this world; our real citizenship is in heaven.

spiritual warfare

I think you get the picture. We’re in a spiritual battle. The enemy, the dragon, Satan, is way too powerful for us when we’re on our own. Without the Holy Spirit we wouldn’t have a chance. The only way to maintain sanity and peace of mind is to depend on our faith in Jesus, and the Father, the Holy Spirit, and the promise of eternal life. With Jesus, we don’t have to fear anything in this world. That’s not to say it will be easy, or that we might not face extreme hardship or even death – but why fear death if it just means you’ll get to heaven sooner!

Be prepared

We need to be prepared spiritually. Despite different interpretations of some of the details in Revelation, Christians all agree on one thing: Jesus is coming back!

And He said “For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be.” Mt.24:37-39

And “Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.” Mt.24:42

next week - to be determined…

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