Who profits from a world without cash?

And what does Bitcoin, CBDC and Stablecoins have to do with this?

Dear readers,

We’re in a new year facing new battles, but also old battles, and one of my old battles is to protect the cash system against the encroachment of digital giants. This issue is now beginning to dovetail with the unstable geopolitics of our time, as Trump seeks to promote digital US dollar stablecoins to spread US dollar hegemony.

If this is something you’d like to learn about, or brush up on, I recently spoke to the Dutch documentary channel VPRO about this (see the video above). In it, I explain - in under 20 minutes - all the issues at stake with cashless society (aka. a bank-dominated society) and also how stablecoins, CBDC and Bitcoin fit into this schema.

Here’s a breakdown of the topics covered

1. 0:00 My metaphor of cash as the bicycle of payments

2. 2:57 The growing digital ‘oligopolization’

3. 3:45 The structure of the money system, using my casino chip metaphor

4. 6:01 Bearer instruments vs ledger instruments

5. 6:42 Payments surveillance and censorship

6. 7:43 Resilience, and cash in times of crisis

7. 9:31 Inclusion, and the use of cash for budgeting in low income communities, and how digital payments increase spending

8. 10:17: Protecting the small-scale peer-to-peer informal economy

9. 11:09 The myth of cash and criminality

10. 11:50 Understanding CBDC

11. 14:44 Understanding stablecoins, and their new role in US geopolitical strategy

12. 16:49 Understanding Bitcoin vs. stablecoins

13. 18:04 The future analog revolution, and rebellion against digital life

The video is published as a collaboration between VPRO and my own YouTube channel. I do cross-post some of my YouTube videos to Substack, but not all of them, so please do subscribe to me on YouTube too!

Cheers!

Brett