Based Underground is now a conservative news aggregator AND curated newsletter.
In mid-November, while the whole world was focused on the Ukraine crisis, the US midterms or whatever other “big story” the media decided was more important, a truly momentous shift took place in the global financial system. It might seem like a small step on the surface, but it has the potential to bring about a real and possibly irreversible sea change in the way we use money; or better said, the way it uses us.
As Reuters reported on the 15th of November, “Global banking giants are starting a 12-week digital dollar pilot with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Citigroup Inc , HSBC Holdings Pl, Mastercard Inc and Wells Fargo & Co are among the financial companies participating in the experiment alongside the New York Fed’s innovation center, they said in a statement. The project, which is called the regulated liability network, will be conducted in a test environment and use simulated data, the New York Fed said. The pilot will test how banks using digital dollar tokens in a common database can help speed up payments.”
Shockingly enough, essentially zero attention was paid to the story. Most media outlets mentioned it in passing and offered little to no context that would make the unsuspecting reader aware of the implications of this development. There was no mainstream discussion or debate about what this means or about how it can affect the average citizen, and no politicians, Fed officials or other institutional figures called any attention to it and argued either for or against it. There was one notable exception, though, one high-profile individual that noticed what could mark the start of a tectonic shift and thought the rest of the world should notice too: Edward Snowden.
The aforementioned context that should have been provided to the average news reader that is not necessarily familiar with the concept of CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies) would include at least a brief explanation what they are, what purposes they serve and how they compare to existing fiat paper money. As I outlined in previous articles, the stakes are too high for people to ignore this development. Whoever controls the money, controls everything and the rise of CBDCs threatens to make that control absolute, closing whatever little “loopholes” of freedom may still exist today.
To most citizens, savers and taxpayers, the transition to a digital dollar might seem harmless, or even beneficial, given that most of the population today associates digitalization with convenience and speed. Indeed, if one doesn’t understand the ins and outs of monetary history, of fiat money and of digital currencies, this concept appears totally innocuous. But even for many who do understand these things, it might seem like such a step would really make no difference. Junk money is junk money after all, be it physical or digital, it’s still backed by nothing, right?
Well, that is right indeed, but there’s a lot more to it. While the currency itself will continue to be worthless, its digital form will come with a bunch of perks and advantages for central planners. As Eswar Prasad, professor of trade policy and economics at Cornell University, puts it:
One should recognize that the CBDC creates new opportunity for monetary policy. If we all had CBDC accounts instead of cash, in principle it might be possible to implement negative interest rates simply by shrinking balances in CBDC accounts. It will become a lot easier to undertake helicopter drops of money. If everybody had a CBDC account, one could easily increase the balance in those accounts.
What this essentially means is that any choice that remains and any degree of financial sovereignty that is left in the present system could be easily wiped out by CBDCs. And its not only financial freedom that’s at stake: these centralized digital currencies can be used by governments to monitor, to control and even to directly punish dissenters, by blocking transactions, freezing their accounts or seizing they assets. Some might find that farfetched, but those are probably the same people who thought that China’s “Social Credit System” was implausible too, right up to the moment it was actually implemented.
About the Author
Claudio Grass is a Mises Ambassador and an independent precious metals advisor based out of Switzerland. His Austrian approach helps his clients find tailor-made solutions to store their physical precious metals under Swiss law. ClaudioGrass.ch.
Article cross-posted from Mises.
- Preserve your retirement with physical precious metals. Receive your free gold guide from Genesis Precious Metals to learn how.
Does Donald Trump REALLY Have This Election “In the Bag”?
by JD Rucker
No. Stop it. Remember 2020. Remember the tens of millions of illegal aliens, 14% of whom are apparently registering to vote. Remember that while most states can report results in less than a day, for some reason battleground states like Pennsylvania and Georgia are incapable of reporting for days or…
Daniel Penny Subway Chokehold Trial Begins
by Zero Hedge
Jordan Neely’s death in a crowded Manhattan subway car made worldwide headlines in May 2023, after bystander footage showed former Marine Daniel Penny restraining the erratic homeless man in a fatal chokehold. The case is finally set to go to trial, with jury selection beginning Monday. Penny, who has argued…
You Can’t Get Blood Out of a Stone: U.S. Consumers Have Been Squeezed Bone Dry as the U.S. Economy Falters
by Michael Snyder
(The Economic Collapse Blog)—A recent survey discovered that 79 percent of Americans believe that the U.S. is on the wrong track right now. As a nation, we may not agree on much, but this is one thing that almost all of us can agree on. Needless to say, the economy is…
US Investigating Leak of Israeli Attack Plans for Iran
by Publius
The United States government is currently engaged in an investigation concerning the unauthorized release of classified documents that detail Israel’s planned military attack against Iran, as reported by The Associated Press. These sensitive documents, attributed to both the U.S. Geospatial Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency, indicate that Israel…
Bank of America Sees Gold Breaking $3,000 Sooner Rather Than Later
by Sponsored Post
Gold has recently experienced a remarkable resurgence, setting record highs and drawing renewed attention from both retail and institutional investors. This shift comes as traditional safe-haven assets are increasingly perceived to be under threat. Strategists at Bank of America suggest that investors, including central banks, should consider reallocating into gold…
Texas DPS Encounter Group of 30 Illegal Aliens with 3 Unaccompanied Minors and 3 Special Interest Illegals
by The Gateway Pundit
Texas DPS apprehended a group of 30 illegal aliens on Sunday in Maverick County. In the group were 3 unaccompanied minors and 3 illegals from the “special interest” countries of Iran and Guinea. Special interest refers to countries that pose a threat to United States national security including potential terrorist…
‘Nightmarish Scenario:” Creeps Can Produce AI-Generated Deepfake Nudes of Anyone With a Few Clicks
by Breitbart
Online AI chatbots are enabling users to generate explicit nude photos of real people with just a few clicks, raising alarms among experts about a looming “nightmarish scenario.” A recent investigation by Wired has uncovered a disturbing trend on the messaging app Telegram, where dozens of AI-powered chatbots are allowing…
Elon Musk Goes All-in for Trump at Huge Pittsburgh Rally, Says ‘Stakes Are Too High’ to Remain Politically Neutral
by The Post Millennial
Elon Musk was in Pennsylvania Sunday along with Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to tell Keystone State voters that although he might “hate politics” he’s engaging in it right now because “the stakes are too high that … I feel I have no choice.” “Yeah, anyway, so I’m dramatically increasing…
Fake Meat Industry Now Demanding Public Subsidies Due to Lack of Customer Interest
by Ramon Tomey
(Natural News)—The fake meat industry is now demanding public subsidies to prop itself up, given that customers have spoken with their wallets and said “no” to lab-grown meat. Data from AgFunderNews cited by the National Pulse reveals that the industry is in dire straits due to dwindling money. Funding for the lab-grown meat sector peaked…
Dominion Voting Systems Issues a Chilling Warning to Conservatives Weeks Before the Election
by The Gateway Pundit
Dominion Voting Systems has issued a chilling warning to conservatives just weeks before the all-important presidential election. In a post on the X platform, the company said that it was “closely monitoring” claims that its machines may be compromised. “Dominion is closely monitoring claims around the Nov. 2024 election and…
Coward: Hamas Chief’s Bunker Loaded With UN Food, Millions in Cash, Weapons and More
by Red State
The one constant in the entire “Islamist terrorist” issue is that their leaders 1) never place themselves in any direct danger, although sometimes danger in the form of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) manages to find them anyway, and 2) they generally live in wealth and luxury while their fighters…
Fire Departments Sued by Biden-Harris for Requiring Job Candidates to Learn How to Fight Fires
by The Gateway Pundit
Thank heavens for the Biden-Harris administration and its steadfast determination to root out institutional racism wherever it may hide. And it hides in the strangest places, too. For instance, do you know it’s institutionally racist to expect a firefighter to know enough to fight fires? I know, I’d been too…
“The Epitome of Evil” Is Running Operations Out of Government Facilities “Established to Provide Assistance” to Illegals
by Michael Snyder
(End of the American Dream)—Are you ready for the truth? Since Joe Biden entered the White House, we have witnessed a tsunami of migration that is unlike anything we have ever seen before. Millions upon millions of people that are not being properly screened are taking advantage of our deeply…
Iran Deserves Listing on Global Terror Finance and Money-Laundering Blacklist
by WND
On Oct. 21, the plenary of the Financial Action Task Force, or FATF, will convene in Paris. Should the organization that sets global standards for countering money laundering and terror finance consider removing the Islamic Republic of Iran from its blacklist, as Tehran hopes, the answer should be a resounding…
The All-Too-Short List of Conservative, Anti-Globalist Leaders
by The Gateway Pundit
As the world shifts leftward and increasingly embraces globalism, a handful of leaders remain as holdouts—conservative, anti-globalist figures who advocate for national sovereignty, economic protectionism, and opposition to globalist institutions such as the United Nations, the European Union, or multinational trade agreements. They frequently push for secure borders and immigration…
Why should the Central Banker’s who killed our dollar be allowed to enslaves us with the “digital dollar” which is created from absolutely nothing?