Five Risks as Governments Roll Out Digital Currencies

CBDCs will give central banks and governments almost unbreakable financial control over your life. The implications are limitless. For example:

Tax Enforcement. Enforcing taxes is expensive for the government. In the U.S., it eats up around 10% of all taxes collected. With an all-digital dollar, the government could use complex algorithms to tax any transaction in real time… and at little or no extra cost.
More Taxes. As the financial elite catch on to the above, you can count on more taxes. That could be anything from federal taxes on sugary foods and drinks, to alcohol consumption taxes, to tourist taxes.
Interest Rates. Just like the savings in your bank account, your digital dollars would have to pay interest.
Higher Inflation. As I’ve written previously, an all-digital dollar would enable the Fed to conjure even more money out of thin air. That’s because it’s easier – and faster – to create a CBDC electronically than a fiat currency. And the greater the money supply, the less valuable each unit of it becomes.
More Control. Finally, a CBDC could even be programmed so that it’s only spendable if the holder of those funds meets certain requirements. This means that, if you do something the government doesn’t like, they could fine you. Or even worse, at the push of a button, they could turn off your ability to transact.

INVEST