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Boston Fed releases report, source code of digital currency prototype study

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Re: Boston Fed releases report, source code of digital currency prototype study

#101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing good has happened after central banking was established either. It's been one financial crisis after another. Also fun fact - back when the US had private currencies, people WILLINGLY preferred to use them despite a gov currency existing. It is only after the government passed high taxes on these currencies(ie having to pay tax for each transaction to exchange them) that they went out of favor. If they were r…

> Also fun fact - back when the US had private currencies, people WILLINGLY preferred to use them despite a gov currency existing. I'm not much of a historian, but are you referring to company stores? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_store > Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go // I owe my soul to the company store — Johnny Cash, Sixteen Tons

There was an extended period when state chartered banks could print their own currency. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Banking_Era

Re: Boston Fed releases report, source code of digital currency prototype study

#102
post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What does civilians owning firearms have to do with a well-trained military force taking over the seats of power? Such a military force would be facing a very well armed citizen-led guerilla response. Given the amount of private gun ownership in the US, holding on to power after a coup would prove a rather difficult proposition.

I haven't seen any real-world evidence that high levels of individual firearm ownership correlate with the preservation of liberty and democracy. Most examples people like to bring out are resistance to a foreign occupation, typically with external assistance from a real military and/or shipments of military arms. And, perhaps tellingly, the result after the occupiers leave is rarely democracy. Meanwhile improvised b…

Mexico

Re: Boston Fed releases report, source code of digital currency prototype study

#103
post #83
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Would also eliminate an incredible last grain of financial privacy people have. When every transaction goes through FED, the government won't need to call or subpoena anyone to know where your money come and go.

How does the Post remain private, since the Government runs that too?

one secret there is, they can photo record every source addrdest addr from the post item face, for some or all of the delivery, for years and years without fail, keep those records, and then do investigative work from that.

Re: Boston Fed releases report, source code of digital currency prototype study

#104

Will this basically mean the federal government would have a record of all our transactions?

It depends on how Congress writes the law that would enable CDBC.

They could simply copy & paste the existing laws regarding banking privacy, e.g., RFPA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Right_to_Financial_Privacy_Act

Re: Boston Fed releases report, source code of digital currency prototype study

#105
post #90
post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They never open the package, and technically, they are quasi-public. Public enough that they can't play fast and loose like everyone else, but private where it matters in terms of not having literal Federally administered databases all just eafer for the reaping.

Right. So, couldn't the central ledger be similar?

If they don't require KYC for accounts, and maybe even use privacy tech like Monero or ZCash, then sure. How likely do you think that is?

Re: Boston Fed releases report, source code of digital currency prototype study

#106
post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The key words here are "central transaction processor". Being able to interact with the financial system without going through intermediaries would eliminate an incredible amount of waste in the form of most of the payments industry.

Would also eliminate an incredible last grain of financial privacy people have. When every transaction goes through FED, the government won't need to call or subpoena anyone to know where your money come and go.

A distributed ledger could prevent the central banks from cooking the books. Anyone and everyone could audit the fed. Can’t have that.

Re: Boston Fed releases report, source code of digital currency prototype study

#107
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

History hasn't been kind to either of Jefferson's opinions in that sentence. The US did abolish the central bank for a while and nothing good happened as a result. Also, military coups are a problem in many countries, but not the US.

> military coups are a problem in many countries, but not the US I wonder why

Privately owned banks.

Private, untraceable, accurate, high capacity banks.

Re: Boston Fed releases report, source code of digital currency prototype study

#108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing good has happened after central banking was established either. It's been one financial crisis after another. Also fun fact - back when the US had private currencies, people WILLINGLY preferred to use them despite a gov currency existing. It is only after the government passed high taxes on these currencies(ie having to pay tax for each transaction to exchange them) that they went out of favor. If they were r…

> Also fun fact - back when the US had private currencies, people WILLINGLY preferred to use them despite a gov currency existing. I'm not much of a historian, but are you referring to company stores? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Company_store > Saint Peter don't you call me 'cause I can't go // I owe my soul to the company store — Johnny Cash, Sixteen Tons

That’s not a Johnny Cash song although he did release a cover of it:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sixteen_Tons

Re: Boston Fed releases report, source code of digital currency prototype study

#109
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What does civilians owning firearms have to do with a well-trained military force taking over the seats of power? Such a military force would be facing a very well armed citizen-led guerilla response. Given the amount of private gun ownership in the US, holding on to power after a coup would prove a rather difficult proposition.

>Such a military force would be facing a very well armed citizen-led guerilla response. Unless enough citizens were on the side of the coup. I don't know why no one ever seems to acknowledge that as a possibility, especially after Jan. 6. Gun owners are just as driven by politics and ideology as anyone else. Plus just because you have a gun in a safe and maybe sometimes shoot watermelons in the backyard with it doesn…

> Unless enough citizens were on the side of the coup.

That was kinda the whole point of the revolutionary war. #DemocracySpeaksManyLanguages

Re: Boston Fed releases report, source code of digital currency prototype study

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's hyperbole referring to how much US dollars stored in a mattress 50 years ago would be worth now. If, instead, you earned money from wages and/or invested in stocks/bonds/real estate/comic books, nothing of the sort happened.

Even if “the 70s” means 1970, it’s still not 98%, more like about 86% according to: https://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

That's why I said "hyperbole." I should have said "mild hyperbole," but I didn't bother to look up the actual numbers.
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