EconWithNick 7 months ago

“We need to rewrite our illicit finance laws to protect us against [real threats] while not undermining the ability to use peer-to-peer technology.” - Zack Shapiro https://www.cato.org/blog/bank-secrecy-act-capital-gains-targeted-reform-bitcoin-policy-summit

EconWithNick 7 months ago

In Ukraine, the central bank has been developing a CBDC for nearly a decade. Another pilot is expected to roll out this year, but the exact date is still up in the air.

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...

EconWithNick 7 months ago

Despite banks spending $59 billion in compliance and filing more than 27 million reports, the US government still struggles to prove this regime is effective. Only 370 investigations at the IRS were initiated by the 27 million reports last year. https://www.cato.org/blog/reporting-fincens-suspicious-activity-again

EconWithNick 7 months ago

Slightly embarrassed to admit this, but there was about 4.2 seconds where I thought this alert said there was a liquidity problem with lightning

EconWithNick 7 months ago

Just look at the state of the negative reviews on the wallet app for Nigeria's CBDC...

EconWithNick 7 months ago

Curious about the Bank Secrecy Act? Or maybe just curious about what Norbert Michel and I talk about all day at Cato? Today, we kicked off the Cato Institute's new podcast series by exploring the rise of financial surveillance and the illusion of financial privacy. https://www.cato.org/multimedia/cato-podcast/illusion-financial-privacy

EconWithNick 7 months ago

Dang! I just reached 200 subscribers on my Substack! Thank you, everyone, for the support here. I was on the fence about starting this newsletter, but it's turned out to be a great way to get my work out there.

EconWithNick 7 months ago

A big thanks goes out to The Rage for featuring my latest piece. I'm excited to share that you'll be able to find more of my work here moving forward.

The Rage

Tracking CBDCs

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey revealed that, even after more than five years of CBDC development, he has yet to be convinced that CBDCs ar...

EconWithNick 7 months ago

The ease of sharing long-form work on Nostr is unreal. View article →

EconWithNick 7 months ago

Cryptocurrency activity has jumped 530% in Bolivia amid rising inflation.

EconWithNick 7 months ago

Dictators regularly use the financial system to target opposition. @gladstein says Bitcoin offers a lifeline: "It's money that dictators can't stop."

EconWithNick 7 months ago

"Only about 13 percent of the world's population has access to a reserve currency, democracy, rule of law, and property rights." - @gladstein at the Bitcoin Policy Summit

EconWithNick 7 months ago

"If you try to force people to adopt something they’re uneasy with, because they’re anxious about the power it would give you over them, the whole thing risks confirming the very concerns about coercion and control that touched off their resistance in the first place." - @Roger H

Human Rights Foundation

House money

Brendan Hasenstab & Roger Huang Why are countries around the world developing virtual legal tenders? Roger Huang on the origins, implementation, an...

EconWithNick 7 months ago

Privacy is normal.

EconWithNick 7 months ago

I'm excited to start sharing my long-form content here. To kick things off, here's a brief introduction to my latest paper explaining how the Federal Reserve (and the US government at large) has slowly taken over payment services. View article →

EconWithNick 8 months ago

If you're curious about how the Fed has routinely undermined the private sector for over 100 years, check out my latest paper with the Cato Institute. https://www.cato.org/publications/reforming-federal-reserve-part-3-a-glance-at-interventions-in-payment-services

EconWithNick 8 months ago

New study finds "more authoritarian jurisdictions have higher probabilities of developing and advancing their CBDC projects." https://pureadmin.qub.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/634806467/Stablecoins.pdf

EconWithNick 8 months ago

In other words, "We find that if we show people propaganda, they like the state more."

EconWithNick 8 months ago

Maybe it’s just me, but seeing that the Bank of England can’t build a functioning menu bar doesn’t exactly inspire confidence for the digital pound. Luckily, the @HRF CBDC Tracker has you covered if you want all the latest information.

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...

EconWithNick 8 months ago

"The problem with this widespread reporting, and the consequent surveillance that arises from it, is that there is little we can individually express without spending money." - L0la L33tz

The Rage

A Human Rights View On Finance

This article is part of a six-part educational series in cooperation between The Rage and the non-custodial, peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange Vexl. "...