“There is a crisis of imagination surrounding CBDCs! We need to think that CBDCs can do so much more than buy a cup of coffee. We have 5G, IoT, and smart contracts. We are going to live in a world where “machines pay.” (26:50)
Thank you to Radek Pyffel for this great interview to talk to people in Poland about Cashless! The Polish edition of Cashless was launched a few weeks back and I’m delighted to be supporting the launch.
Polish version of Cashless. Tranlation: Cashless Society: Digital Yuan
My other interviews supporting the launch were translated to Polish so I haven’t put them up on Linkedin!
So lets recap:
A cashless lifestyle is beautiful! CBDCs are not the government coming in and taking over your money. In fact it will offer better privacy and anonymity than Wechat and Alipay and even credit cards in the West. And the digital yuan won’t be used for sanction busting.
🔹0:45 Lockdowns in Shanghai?
🔹1:50 There are many skeptics, what are the advantages of CBDC?
I lived in China before it went cashless and after. I can tell you that living the cashless lifestyle is better. What’s the good what’s the bad? There is no need to be afraid.
🔹3:50 Digital currency means more privacy than traditional credit cards?
Every time we use a credit card we have many different institutions that get your information there are around 6-8 different companies who get your data when you make a charge. With a CBDC, you can make an anonymous payment for coffee so that when you buy coffee they don’t know who you are! That’s better than with credit cards!
🔹6:10 But the gov’t knows how much and where you pay?
Its like the system we have with credit cards today. For the gov’t to know what and where you paid with a card they need to get a warrant. It’s the same with CBDC. CBDC is not a “list of names and charges” for everyone in the nation. There are people who want you to be afraid of CBDC.
🔹8:50 What are the advantages to China?
Domestic use first. There is a future where we can pay one another immediately at zero cost with no bank or institution between the two Who do you think hates CBDC more than anyone? The banks! Banks and cards won’t be required for cash transfers. Most don’t understand that the cost of using a credit card is added on to all of the products we buy. So there is a tax added on to the price of everything we buy.
🔹12:40 How does CBDC make a difference on a global stage?
China will use the digital yuan for trade with BRI countries and they will switch to using the e-CNY. Many smaller countries will want this because they will avoid a two-step foreign exchange process. You can change to e-CNY and buy things in China within minutes.
🔹15:00 Is the digital yuan going to help with internationalization?
Yes and this is going to happen very slowly! China will need to make arrangements with other central banks, its not bitcoin. This will take time as China will have to add country by country. This is a 10 year process. Currency controls are obsolete, CBDC will allow a “controllable currency” which will greatly reduce currency controls.
🔹18:50 Will SWIFT sanctions speed up adoption of digital currency?
Let me be 100% clear. The e-CNY will not be used for evading sanctions by Russia. It is too new, it is in trial and does not yet exist as an international transfer currency. Now…in future…the digital ruble will be out in December of 2022. In 18-24 months could this happen? Maybe but unlikely because of the bad publicity the e-CNY would get if is labeled a “sanction-buster.”
🔹23:30 What is the purpose or need for a digital currency in China, why is it needed?
China’s digital yuan is going to take digital payment to new places, places where Alipay and Wechat Pay were never designed to go. For example business payments over $100,000 or full payment of work salaries.
🔹26:50 TRUTH BOMB: There is a crisis of imagination! We need to think that CBDCs can do so much more than buy a cup of coffee. We have 5G, IoT, and smart contracts. We are going to live in a world where “machines pay.” CBDC is going to give us new use cases that people aren’t even thinking of now!
🔹28:30 What will happen if the West doesn’t adopt CBDC?
Look at the map….the zone in pink is all in Asia and these countries are going to adopt CBDCs in the next few years. CBDC will be used for trade within Asia in a few short years.
Russia should also now be in pink with the recent announcement that it will launch a retail CBDC in December of 2022
Hope you enjoy the podcast!
