CBDC and Nations, where are they at? A look at Sweden.
With more and more central banks trying to create digital currency and their own version of digital currency, I decided to look at some of the countries that are experimenting as well as doing that. I believe these projects have been by this year’s pandemic. I think it legitimized cryptocurrency’s to all the governments.
How drastic "Black Swan " events can reshape the world is amazing. Not long ago JP Morgan called bitcoin fake and rat poison Buffet said, now he is selling "bags" of bank stocks. Banks are privat money and any digital currency on a Central Bank scale would not be a "bank" currency. For first time in history maybe the governments will control the distribution of money to its citizens. A role that privat banks have monopolized through the decades and centuries. So yeah banks must be scared.
I was taught to watch what smart money does and copy. Buffet is smart money. what does the wealthy people know that we don’t know ?
First out is Swedens Riksbank, that is in phase 3 of their project that started early 2019, in exploring how to use a "E-krona".
My home countries Sveriges riksbank, or simply the Riksbank, is the central bank of Sweden. It is the world's oldest central bank and the third oldest bank in operation. I am African by birth and Swedish by nation, resident of USA. They list a great answer to the question of what is money?
" Money is what the citizens in society agree it should be. For this agreement to work, three important functions need to be fulfilled:
All prices of goods and services shall be expressed in the unit we define as money so that we can easily compare the prices of different things. In Sweden, this unit is the "krona".
The value of money rests on the confidence of the general public. What we have chosen as money shall function as a store of value, that is, the value of money shall remain stable over time. This enables us to consume immediately or to save money for consumption at a later date.
Money needs to function as a means of payment, which means that everyone we want to do business with must accept it as payment. This may mean that the definition of money applies to a certain country or area.
From shells to digital money
When we speak of money today, many probably think of a banknote in some currency or another. But in today's digital society, cash forms a very small part of the total amount of money, only about 2 per cent. Virtually all the rest is electronic.
Through history, we have used different objects as money to facilitate trade and consumption. Everything from shells, gold objects and metal coins to bits of paper or notes when printing technology came along. More recently, our funds in bank accounts have, to an increasing extent, been used for payments, that is, as money. To begin with, we used cheques, bills of exchange or paper giros, but technological development has resulted in us nowadays using digital money via various online services and mobile apps."- Source (https://www.riksbank.se/en-gb/payments--cash/how-payments-work/what-is-money/)
The digital money revolution is already here. We been using electronic money for some time now already. And according to the way this pandemic has escalated things for a change, this might be cryptocurrencies time to shine. Cryptocurrency and blockchain is in essence just a upgrade to the electronic payment system we have now and blockchain just a upgraded databank to simplify. Extremely simplify, but I don't need to convert you guys here on this blog site. I need to convert the people out there.
Sweden seem to be moving into digital money real fast, the country is largely cashless, and no checks have been used for about 30 years.
Although not a finished product, I believe Sweden will be at the forefront of a Central Bank digital currency in due time.
The battle is really about the reserve currency status. If you don't believe that Bitcoin is having a huge global economic effect on a Macro scale. Just see how many Central Banks are scrambling to create its own version of currency, and what Libra did to scare governments. After all, having a "Crystal ball" in the future is extremely hard. And as such, the Romans thought they created the perfect society, the Founding fathers in the USA thought they created a great " checks and balances" and also a financial system. As such Bretton Woods was seen as a perfect system. All I am saying is that for maybe the first time thanks to the internet and FeFi and decentralized nature of blockchain. People truly have power and the central authorities are scrambling to maintain and catch up.
What are your thoughts. Bitcoin and blockchain will change and is changing the world, but probably not the way we think or Satoshi thought. But it's changing!
Nobody has a Crystal Ball.