The Crypto Christian's Guide To CBDCs: Government Owned Cryptocurrency

One of the most common questions we receive from "Crypto-Curious" Christians is, "Can the government control Bitcoin? Or can they create their own cryptocurrency?". 

This is good news and bad news situation. Let's answer each question: 

Can the government control bitcoin?

Short answer: No. 

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital property that operates on open-source software across the globe.  There's no single person, corporation, or government that controls it. In fact, Bitcoin is the most censorship form of money ever created, it's impossible for a corporation or government to steal it (if stored properly). 

Can the government create its own cryptocurrency?

Short answer: Yes. 

These are called Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). 

A CBDC is a fully centralized cryptocurrency that is owned and controlled by either a government or a central bank, such as the Federal Reserve or IMF. 

Central banks and governments are attracted to the idea of creating a CBDC so they can easily manage taxes and stimulus payments, and process payments faster. 

The downside of CBDCs is that the government would have the ability to exercise total control over all transactions. They could monitor all of a citizen's transactions, approve or suppress businesses or private citizens from being able to use the currency, and freeze the assets of citizens they don't approve of... 

This is why China is leading the way in the adoption of CBDCs (Source: Center for Strategic & International Studies).

As you can imagine, totalitarian regimes love the idea of being able to monitor the behavior of their citizens, manage their finances, and financially 'cancel' anyone that may disobey the regime. 

Governments would also have the ability to change the rules around their currency without warning, issue more supply, cut the supply, add processing fees, etc. 

CBDCs are antithetical to Bitcoin and should not be embraced by the crypto community. 

You can watch a quick video from the American Institute for Economic Research on CBDCs and how they work below:

The key differences between Bitcoin and CBDCs are: 

• CBDCs are fully centralized and owned by either governments or central banks. 
• The supply of CBDCs can be increased or decreased at will by a government edict. Meaning, that it is not a solution to inflation. 
• Private citizens, businesses, and organizations can be blocked from using the currency. This is not the case for Bitcoin. 
• CBDCs can be used to commit financial censorship or event to spy on and regulate the behavior of citizens. 

Christians searching for an alternative to failing currencies plagued by inflation ought to avoid CBDCs. This form of cryptocurrency does not comply with the biblical principles of money and is not a form of Sound Money.