RMR ROB DEJEAN – WRITTEN EVIDENCE (CDC0003)

CENTRAL BANK DIGITAL CURRENCIES INQUIRY

Call for Evidence for the Inquiry on Central Bank Digital Currencies
(CBDCs).

1. What are the main issues driving central banks to explore CBDCs?

Having been personally been involved in cryptocurrencies since 2015 and having
researched the history and evolution of money and currencies, I feel I needed to
be involved in this Call for Evidence.

Central Banks have now operated a wholly fiat monetary system since 1971,
allowing governments to inflate debt at an ever-increasing rate. The world has
not had money in its real sense for a long time, only currencies supported by
trust. The rapid debt expansion in the past few years has become a necessity to
counter the instability of the fiat system, so a migration to a new digital system
will be hailed as a financial system saviour. As central banks (some privately
owned such as the Federal Reserve Bank) work in closer and closer concert with
their respective governments, the IMF, the World Bank, whom in turn are
working closer with technology companies, there is a perceived need to usher in
a new “stable” financial system which can also track every citizen with every
digital currency unit to exact further control on the population.

The creation of cryptocurrencies as an alternative means of store of wealth and

means of exchange for the world’s citizens has been seen as a huge threat on
the current financial system, and this sector has been systematically demonised
and manipulated to deter further adoption and to effect further transfers of
wealth from individuals to institutions via co-ordinated market control.
Cryptocurrency technology has been taken to another level to make it
programmable and fully controllable for Central Banks’ uses.

2. What are the main benefits and risks of a CBDC?

Benefits include:
- A hiatus in systemic demise of the financial system during migration
- A reduced need for banking presence
- Increased difficulty to effect unwanted transactions in society at lower levels
due to society going cashless (i.e. illegal activities). However, such illegal
activities will still be sanctioned and permissible at the highest levels of
government, banking, top companies and high wealth individuals.

Risks include:
- CBDC will necessitate a cashless society so those replying on cash/legacy
systems will be left behind
- Individuals will ultimately have to be personally tied to technology to access
society on a financial level, i.e. smart phone, smart device, implants, etc
- CBDC supply will have to be controllable, i.e. not of finite supply, to control
inflation levels and facilitate any amount of government borrowing requirement.
This risk that the digital currency is used in a fashion to satisfy high level
government or banking needs ahead of the impact such usages will have on
citizens.
- Any interruption to digital networks (power outages, data centre disablements,
solar flares, government decrees, hacking, Denial of Service Attacks, etc) will
render the financial system useless until continuity is achieved. How will citizens
transact under such scenarios?
- Programmable digital currency leads to obvious privacy and security risks, as
well as human rights transgressions in the events of currency being
disabled/withheld/frustrated for the owner under certain circumstances.

3. Could the proposed benefits of a CBDC be achieved through

improvements to existing payment systems?

Yes, though it is a matter of realisation that the problems with the existing
payment system is due to operating a fiat currency system and a banking
system which does not work for people but works for its own ends for societal
control and wealth transferring away from the general population. Once this is
clearly seen, a CBDC makes no material difference.

4. How should the Bank of England and HM Treasury address concerns

over privacy and traceability of payments when exploring CBDC design?

Both the BoE and HM Treasury are well aware of the privacy and traceability
concerns of CBDC. They should make CBDC private and anonymous if they have
concerns. However, these entities will see CBDC technology as a golden-egg
laying goose in a world that has pursued data collection and the control that
affords (see Facebook, Google, Twitter, etc and their policies on censorship and
coercion through ad and post serving to customers).

5. What effects might a CBDC have on the financial sector?

It will bring about the centralisation of finance so that everyone and every entity
in the system is under the all-seeing Central Banks’ eye and the world will be
closer to the World Economic Forum’s goal of the new vision for the globe.

6. What effect might a CBDC have on competition and innovation in the

payments and fintech sectors?

It will have an effect in so much as legacy systems will have to adapt and
migrate to the new digital currency, but the same banking principles will apply
behind the façade so competition and innovation will continue as before.

7. How might a CBDC affect monetary policy?

The Central bank will allow monetary policy to be effected more quickly, through
a few clicks of a mouse to control the digital currency.

8. How might a CBDC change the Bank of England’s role and

responsibilities?
A CBDC has the potential for the BoE to overtly or covertly increase its role and
responsibilities in society. Rightly or wrongly, and with the government at its
beck and call to change laws to suit the needs of the BoE, it could coerce,
incentivise or manipulate the economy through implementation of certain
currency unit expiration dates, issuance of universal income, the setting of
certain currency units to be only valid for certain uses/purchases. It could freeze
any currency unit anywhere in the world for any “just” or political reason.

9. How should HM Treasury and the Bank of England engage with the
public on the research and development of a CBDC?

To start with, they need to be honest about the current system and how its real
failings will not be repeated with the introduction of a CBDC. If these failings
cannot be addressed (and they will not be if a new CBDC is just a digital fiat
currency) then all pros and cons should be aired and debated, openly, in the
public arena. There should also be the creation of a publicly selected and open
public oversight committee that will analyse and query anything that may
constitute being in the public interest. This committee should permanently
oversee the CBDC to ensure the agreed criteria is being complied with.

10. How might CBDCs affect the economic foreign policies or geopolitical
influence of different countries and economic areas? Are there
implications for the effectiveness of economic sanctions?

There are huge implications for geopolitical influence and the effecting of
sanctions to a high degree. With this power comes much responsibility, which is
highly concerning when one analyses this country’s foreign policies and
geopolitical moves over the past couple of decades. No doubt with this
knowledge and the arrogance carried by the government and Civil Service, a
CBDC cannot come soon enough.

30 September 2021