After hearing opposition to the digital euro, MEP Lukas Sieper suggests that cash is only for criminals so the EU needs a CBDC.
Nick Anthony
EconWithNick@verified-nostr.com
npub1n2m8...gflr
Policy Analyst at the Cato Institute's Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives and Fellow at the Human Rights Foundation. Covering CBDCs, financial privacy, and cryptocurrency. Opinions are my own.
LIVE NOW: ECB President Christine Lagarde says cash can't be used online so Europe needs a CBDC.
Update: The head of the Banque de France is stepping down.
The French Central Bank Is Wrong
In the first 21 days of 2026, the French central bank governor managed to get it wrong on Bitcoin, US history, gold, and CBDCs.
Apparently this is a hot take, but no party should be using gerrymandering to artificially draw lines and cut off voices of the other party.
Don’t say you value democracy if you support your party doing this.
Responding to my work, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says, "I don't read the Cato Institute, but I do believe in financial surveillance"
Live Now🔴: Christine Lagarde of the ECB says it is “vital” to “rapidly adopt” the digital euro.
I guess it shouldn't be surprising that two members of Congress who tried to create a CBDC also oppose strengthening financial privacy.
Get the full break down in @The Rage
The Rage
Rep. Lynch is Wrong on the Bank Secrecy Act
The Massachusetts Congressman claims the BSA is "highly useful" to combat terrorism. The data says otherwise.
Ratio the White House side quest: Complete. 
There is nothing better than seeing a problem and deciding to fix it. Massive respect to @BITCOIN DADA. Another great addition to the CCN 2025 top 100.
Remember, folks: You can just do things.
CCN.com
Ivan on Tech and Lorraine Marcel
Ivan on Tech equips developers to build what those users will actually use, while Lorraine Marcel brings new users into Bitcoin through community e...
Step 1: Campaign against CBDCs
Step 2: Become President and issue an EO against CBDCs
Step 3: Nominate the one pro-CBDC candidate, Kevin Warsh, for Federal Reserve Chair?
Trump really is the president of contradictions.
Apologies all. I normally limit my Substack posts to one a week, but I managed to send two... at the exact same time. I'll hold off on any posts next week.
Banking, Bureaucracy, and Beyond | Nick Anthony | Substack
Everything you need to stay up to speed on the policy conversations surrounding central bank digital currency, financial privacy, banking, and more...
Ignorant about economic history?
Biased against Bitcoin?
Fond of making proclamations without research?
Congratulations. You can lead a central bank.
https://www.cato.org/blog/french-central-bank-wrong
A big thanks goes out to the FT for publishing my CBDC critique.
TL;DR: It seems 70 economists don't understand economics.
Client Challenge
The ECB isn't hiding it. Europeans will be forced to use the digital euro.
We've all seen Brian Armstrong set the record straight at the World Economic Forum when the Banque de France governor said he doesn't trust the company running bitcoin.
But did you know that's not the only thing the governor got wrong?
https://www.cato.org/blog/french-central-bank-wrong
Villeroy de Galhau also tried to appeal to history by pointing to the experience of free banking in the United States. He described this era as suffering from “many crises of confidence.”
He did so in an attempt to undermine trust in private money, but the only trust undermined here should be that in governments.
What he didn’t say is that crises occurred during this period in large part because of the laws and regulations in place that made banks unstable.
My colleague, George Selgin, has gone to great lengths to correct this record. The general public may be forgiven for not knowing this history, but central bankers have no excuse.
Villeroy de Galhau then said gold was a “sovereign asset” governed by the state. However, this claim is similarly misleading. The use of gold as money predates legal tender laws.
Villeroy de Galhau took this opportunity to also say that CBDCs are the next evolution of money. If CBDCs are an “evolution” of anything, they reflect the evolution of state control over monetary systems—not a natural progression arising from the market.
Turning away from the forum, Villeroy de Galhau also mentioned his support for CBDCs in his “New Year’s address.”
Curiously, he said, “2026 will see the first central bank digital currency.” Taken as written, this statement is wrong.
The first CBDC was arguably created in 1992. That project died, but CBDCs have seen a resurgence.
China, India, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Russia, The Bahamas, and others have all launched CBDCs in one form or another.
So, in the first 21 days of 2026, the Banque de France governor managed to get it wrong on Bitcoin, US history, gold, and CBDCs.
That track record is almost as bad as central banks managing inflation.
Banque de France Governor François Villeroy de Galhau: Central banks are more democratic and independent than "private issuers of bitcoin."
Brian Armstrong: "In the sense that central banks have independence, Bitcoin is even more independent. There's [no one] who controls it."
Secretary Scott Bessent is building a legacy of financial surveillance and control. The announcement that he is stopping Americans from sending their money abroad and increasing surveillance under the Bank Secrecy Act should be condemned.
Yet, it should be no surprise.
Yet, it should be no surprise. It was only just last year that Secretary Bessent increased financial surveillance to target transactions as little as $200. After being sued for this violation of fundamental freedoms, he responded by expanding surveillance to cover even more Americans.
This playbook has been used time after time. When the Bank Secrecy Act was first passed, Congress claimed Americans were hiding money in Swiss bank accounts. Then it was expanded to fight the war on drugs. Then it was expanded again for the war on terror. Now it seems it’s the war on fraud.
Fighting crime is a worthy endeavor. However, we cannot sacrifice the freedoms that make America great in the process.
@HRF asked me to share one of my favorite freedom tech projects. Here's what I had to say about @vexl 😎
While I was limited to just one, I also have to give shout-outs to Skot building Bitaxe, @calle building Cashu, and many more.
The policy front may be depressing at times, but the people building solutions on the ground give me hope.
See what everyone else on the HRF Freedom Tech Team had to say here. 
While I was limited to just one, I also have to give shout-outs to Skot building Bitaxe, @calle building Cashu, and many more.
The policy front may be depressing at times, but the people building solutions on the ground give me hope.
See what everyone else on the HRF Freedom Tech Team had to say here. Human Rights Foundation
Top 15 Freedom Tech Projects of 2025
Looking back on 2025, financial and digital repression under authoritarian regimes continued to grow. But so did the innovation pushing back agains...
I guess there are no days off. The latest in ECB CBDC marketing is a Christmas post from president Christine Lagarde.
To be honest, I would have preferred coal, but here we are... so let me put down the eggnog and break down what's happening here. 
As she noted, the EU Governing Council has given the green light for the digital euro (the ECB's CBDC). In short, the Council said that the digital euro should work both online and offline, have holding limits, allow a "high degree of privacy" while still being AML/KYC compliant, and be free for consumers to use.
This green light from the council does not mean, however, that the digital euro will be launched. Now it's up to the European Parliament to weigh in.
Sadly, though, this process might appear democratic from the outside, but it's really just a formality. It's unlikely that Parliament will alter the course.
As @Efrat Fenigson noted on X, the ECB is just waiting for the Parliament's rubber stamp to move forward.
As CBDC marketing ramps up, it's important to be vigiliant (even on holidays).
As I've noted repeatedly, the ECB's marketing campaign borders on false advertising when it comes to claims about competition and freedom.
https://www.cato.org/blog/digital-euro-isnt-about-freedom
2026 is going to be an eventful year on the CBDC front. And as always, you can find out everything you need to know in the @HRF CBDC Tracker.
As she noted, the EU Governing Council has given the green light for the digital euro (the ECB's CBDC). In short, the Council said that the digital euro should work both online and offline, have holding limits, allow a "high degree of privacy" while still being AML/KYC compliant, and be free for consumers to use.
This green light from the council does not mean, however, that the digital euro will be launched. Now it's up to the European Parliament to weigh in.
Sadly, though, this process might appear democratic from the outside, but it's really just a formality. It's unlikely that Parliament will alter the course.
As @Efrat Fenigson noted on X, the ECB is just waiting for the Parliament's rubber stamp to move forward.
As CBDC marketing ramps up, it's important to be vigiliant (even on holidays).
As I've noted repeatedly, the ECB's marketing campaign borders on false advertising when it comes to claims about competition and freedom.
https://www.cato.org/blog/digital-euro-isnt-about-freedom
2026 is going to be an eventful year on the CBDC front. And as always, you can find out everything you need to know in the @HRF CBDC Tracker.
CBDC Tracker
A CBDC is a digital national currency. In the case of the United States, a CBDC would be a digital form of the U.S. dollar whereas, in Nigeria, the...