Pelli Wang | Source | CoFounder at Bracket Labs Group

Q: What do you think about CBDCs and the current crypto regulation across the world?
PW: In years past, many including myself would have thought a more modern, digital currency would improve distribution of the dollar and meet the demand around the world. However, it is clear that without decentralization and proper governance, a CBDC would be more dangerous than helpful. Surveillance capitalism should neither be encouraged, nor exported. Transparent treasury -backed stablecoins on-chain can serve the purpose of increasing demand for dollars and increasing the velocity of money world-wide without adding unnecessary surveillance.
Western powers, including the US, want to ensure sovereignty over their currencies as they can influence how it is used. Some in the government fear that restricting access to rails, enforcing sanctions, and maintaining petrodollar hegemony may become harder should more open, decentralized rails be the default financial highway. That is yet to be known. However, open systems are auditable, transparent, and encourage accountability, a vast improvement over the status quo. I also think there will be a future where KYC/AML will be enforced on open rails when necessary to interact with regulated, compliant organizations.

Q: What should the normal citizen know about CBDCs and their impact on their financial lives?
PW: While there is a chance that CBDCs could start as a way for the Fed Reserve and banks to distribute money wholesale, retail CBDCs could be considered for more capital controls at the consumer level. Only a tiny percentage of the total money supply is in paper cash, the rest is created by banks loaning money, digital accounting for money you see in your bank app. Introducing CBDC here would give the government more power on how and where you spend your money, something that should be considered only with great caution. While some positives may be more refined distribution of aid or targeted economic relief, the negatives would lead us to an authoritarian state, where CBDCs could be “revoked” as we are seeing in China. Expiring money doesn’t sound too enjoyable as a normal person.

Q: What do you have to say about CBDC being used as a financial surveillance tool?
PW: CBDCs at the retail level open pandora’s box for capital surveillance, aggressive economic intrusions, and profiling. As we see in China, money that ends up “revokable” or “expiring” could also be a possibility, greatly reducing confidence in the system as a whole.