Remember when Congress started worrying about stablecoins late last year? That was Liz Warren, “the most dangerous part of the crypto world. It’s where scammers, cheaters, and fraudsters mix among part-time investors and novice crypto traders. In DeFi, you can’t even tell if you’re trading…
Remember when Congress started worrying about stablecoins late last year? That was Liz Warren, “the most dangerous part of the crypto world. It’s where scammers, cheaters, and con artists mix with part-time investors and novice crypto traders. In DeFi, you can’t even call it a terrorist.” But if you read between the lines, there’s a clear message: the US is afraid of being left behind when it comes to financial innovation. The fact is, while DeFi is being painted as the big bad here, it may just be an excuse to accelerate the urgency of action on a completely different perceived threat. CBDCs or central bank currencies. This isn’t a threat per se, in fact, one could be forgiven for thinking that a CBDC is actually exactly what the US government wants – but even that’s not straightforward. No, the threat actually comes from a much more familiar place.
The Winter Olympics are set to begin in two weeks, on February 2 in Beijing. You could be forgiven for thinking it’s a sporting event, but it’ll actually be a golden opportunity for China to showcase its centrally-backed digital currency, the e-CNY, with plans to make it the only digital payment option at the event alongside cash and Visa cards – so no Alipay or WeChat Pay (at least not yet). You might have thought these strange new digital currencies were a long way from becoming mainstream, but that’s not the case. They’re already here. So if you’re looking to get to grips with CBDCs, this is the place to be. What are they, where are they being created, and what are the benefits and risks for DeFi?
