Blockstream CEO Slams CBDCs, Claims They Are Worse Than Banks
- Blockstream CEO Adam Back said that CBDCs are worse than banks and are “systems of control”
- He also stated that Bitcoin (BTC) is “apolitical, bearer, unseizable money”
The CEO of Blockstream, a blockchain technology company, Adam Back, stated that central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, are worse than banks. In a series of Twitter posts, Back said that these alternatives to stablecoins and the crypto industry are worse for holders.
Additionally, Back was one of the proponents of Bitcoin adding that BTC is “apolitical, bearer, unseizable money” while arguing that CBDCs are “systems of control.” This statement from the Blockstream co-founder comes at a time when Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency, is facing heavy pressure from the bears.
Back further added that a digital version of fiat would be a financial disaster and “worse than paper cash, worse than stablecoins, and much worse than Bitcoin.”
However, this is not the first time Back has supported Bitcoin and private stablecoins. In 2019, he supported Meta’s (formerly Facebook) Libra (rebranded to Diem) project.
The comments from Back come amid former Blockstream chief strategy officer Samson Mow’s statement on CBDCs at the Asian Leadership Conference. Mow stated at the conference that the governments and authorities pushing the creation of central bank digital currencies are not focused on transaction confidentiality.
“Central banks could do it correctly if they implemented a CBDC that was private and had a way to transact confidentially. But that’s not the motivation for a CBDC. Even in Canada, the bank that (released) a job posting looking for engineers to build a system, and the summary was – we want a central bank digital currency that is private, but not too private. So I just can’t see it happening in a correct way,”
Mow said.
Additionally, Mow also added that the best way for governments and countries to move forward will be to accept Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender rather than focus on CBDCs.
Interestingly, the concept of CBDCs is getting very popular among countries, including China, which was among the first countries to launch a CBDC. Moreover, the US, the UK, as well as Mexico are researching the creation of a central bank digital currency.
Whistleblower Edward Snowden took to Twitter last year and called CBDCs a “perversion of cryptocurrency, or at least the founding principles and protocols of it.” He stated that a CBDC is a “cryptofascist currency, expressly designed to deny you the basic ownership of your money by installing the State at the center of every transaction.”
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
