I keep seeing people talk about CBDC like it's some kind of "next step" for crypto, but honestly I don’t really get it.
To me it looks like the opposite of what crypto was created for.
No decentralization, no real privacy, everything tracked. Yeah, they say it’s about security and convenience, but if every transaction is visible and can be controlled, then what’s the point?
Feels like people are slowly getting used to this idea that full financial surveillance is just normal.
I don’t think CBDC will kill crypto, but it might split users into two groups:
those who don’t care much about privacy and those who actually do.
Curious what you guys think - is this really the future or am I missing something?
I think the claim that "people want CBDCs" is completely off the mark. Take China, for example. The PRC launched its retail CBDC back in 2018 and has pulled out all the stops to promote the digital yuan, ranging from free airdrops to paying interest just like traditional savings accounts.
The Chinese government throws around impressive turnover figures, but the reality is that after 8 years, the CBDC has failed to capture any meaningful share of everyday retail transactions.
Ultimately, it's the central banks that want CBDCs, not the public. This tech allows them to gather granular economic data and fine-tune monetary policy instead of relying on broad, blunt measures. To achieve this, they might even be willing to scale back on tracking individual spending and make digital fiat slightly less centralized to actually drive adoption.