Digital Euro: Majority rejects CBDC introduction

As our entire lives become more and more digital, it only seems logical that our money should follow suit. China, Nigeria and Jamaica have already advanced. Digital central bank money (CBDC) is therefore also being discussed in Europe. However, this monetary upheaval not only has advantages, but also a lot of risks. That is why this topic is very controversial.

Cash vs. CBDCs – the pros and cons

Critics of CBDCs fear abuse by governments. Prominent whistleblower Edward Snowden, for example, has called CBDCs a “perversion of a cryptocurrency” and a “crypto-fascist currency.” In fact, the issuers of CBDCs, i.e. the central banks, have a large number of control, sanction and control mechanisms at their disposal.

But there are also advantages. Digital money is significantly cheaper and more resource-efficient than physical money. Manufacturing, storage and transport are eliminated. In addition, it cannot be stolen by pickpocketing. Proponents also bring into play the possibilities of money laundering and fighting crime. Effects can be achieved here, but the criminals have strong evasive reactions. For example, in Sweden, which is largely cash-free, robberies of banks and money transporters have decreased, but there has been a clear increase in card fraud offenses.

The containment of the shadow economy is also becoming louder a study by Deutsche Bank barely reduced: “This […] Results show that cash can hardly be the trigger for informal economy activities. […] Abolishing cash would not eliminate the informal economy, but it would increase the cost of illegal payments. This could reduce the size of the informal economy by an estimated 2-3 percent.” Terrorism would also not be significantly hampered by a cash abolition. Although international crime (drugs, product piracy) would have to reckon with a drop in profits, it would not be significantly curtailed.

The advantages of cash lie in its resistance to censorship and the anonymity it affords. Use cannot be prevented. Which goods, goods or services someone has acquired remains a private matter.

BTC-ECHO editor-in-chief Sven Wagenknecht has dealt intensively with the topic of CBDCs in his current book “Money – The Next 10 Years”. It explains “why the digital euro makes our lives more convenient, but less free” and “why the power struggle between the USA and China is decided by the monetary infrastructure”. His assessment is:

Everything is going digital, including our money. In order to remain competitive, a digital euro is therefore needed. At the same time, we must do everything we can to ensure that surveillance scenarios like the one in China do not occur.

Sven Wagenknecht, BTC-ECHO Editor-in-Chief

What do you think of a digital euro?

In order to capture your views on a digital euro as a CBDC, we let you vote on Instagram, Telegram, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube from 02/08/2023 to 09/02/2023. 1,287 votes were cast across channels.

The question was:
What do you think of a digital euro?

• A: Nothing, too dangerous (because of monitoring and control)
• B: Good against money laundering etc.
• C: We need to keep up with the e-yuan
• D: I don’t care

And you made a clear decision: 66.5 percent reject a digital euro because of security concerns. 7.8 percent support it to combat money laundering. 12 percent think we need it to keep up with the e-yuan and 13.7 percent are not interested in this topic.

Your opinion is clear. We continue to follow the development and will of course keep you up to date on our website, in our app and on the social media channels.