For a lot of people in the crypto space, the term crypto means money. Of course, it didn’t start off that way. Bitcoin created the most expensive pizza sale ever, mostly because it was the first ever Bitcoin transaction, and Bitcoin was basically worthless at the time.
Things have changed quickly. Today a Bitcoin is worth well over $20,000, and you can have hundreds of high-end pizzas for your Bitcoin. But why? Why has Bitcoin become so popular globally in less than 15 years?
Let’s go back to the word – crypto – and what it really means.
Etymonline states,
“Before vowels crypt-, word-forming element meaning ‘secret’ or ‘hidden, not evident or obvious,’ used in forming English words at least since 1760 (crypto-Calvinianism), from Latinized form of Greek kryptos ‘hidden, concealed, secret’ (see crypt; the Greek combining form was krypho-).”
So – kryptos – meaning, “hidden, concealed, secret.”
Given the success of Bitcoin and the cryptocurrency industry as a whole, it is fair to assets that there is value in the ability to maintain privacy, a.k.a. secrets. In a post-9/11 world, people are subject to a more invasive social environment than ever before.
Perhaps that is why more people are looking for ways to maintain personal privacy, especially when it comes to money.
Money is Rights
Humans have not always had the ability to have money as we understand it in the modern sense. In fact, for most of human history, there has been some form of a controller class, and that amounts to a slave class as well.
These social arrangements have gone under different names, and instead of the loaded word ‘slave’ others like serf and peasant are used. It was only in the modern age that people came to the radical idea that every human should have inherent rights, one of which is the right to have money.
Privacy Matters
The ability of a subject to perform activities privately, safely, and without being tracked, without being subjected to arbitrary interference with his or her private life, is characterized as privacy.
Every person’s fundamental right to privacy is guaranteed in all aspects of daily life, including salary, school grades, and bank account balance.
Imagine getting charged twice the price because someone knows you have a significant amount of money in your wallet. Or your transaction is halted by the seller because some of your past payments were associated with a legitimate online casino and your seller despises gambling.
Without privacy, the possibility of pricing manipulation and financial surveillance increases.
The problem with the modern monetary system is its centralization. Central authority, which was established to preserve public order and interests, often finds ways to limit or interfere with the money of people.
There has always been a basic contradiction between protection and privacy, which calls into question both each government’s administrative capacity and moral character.
Prior to the concept of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, which were designed to create a world in which people could keep their identities and transactions private, money creation relied on a central institution that was always subject to government oversight.
The anonymity and privacy that cryptocurrency provides distinguish it. It must be stated that anonymity is an essential component of the cryptocurrency business.
CBDCs Remove Privacy
Privacy is a shield that safeguards users from the hazards and dangers of identity disclosure, as well as ensuring anonymity in investment.
The emergence of cryptocurrencies represents a watershed moment in the world’s financial system because, for the first time in history, transactions are done directly between the sender and the receiver without the intervention of the government, banks, or middlemen.
As the use of Bitcoin becomes more widespread, more scenarios will emerge that demonstrate why it is essential to place a significant emphasis on protecting one’s personal privacy.
Money is privacy and privacy is a fundamental right of all people. That is why CBDCs are so dangerous, and why people in Nigeria are doing everything they can to avoid using the new CBDC in the nation.
It is also the reason why the Nigerian government is trying to force people to use the new CBDC. Governments want to control people, and as their ability to attract people with merits fades, more compulsion is coming.
Given the global pivot to war, we may see a push to use CBDCs in most nations, whether or not people want them.
The post CBDCs: Does Your Privacy Matter? Yeah, Probably… appeared first on Blockonomi.
