Despite fears that governments will use the data to monitor the spending culture of the people and crush dissent, it is sad to know that the G20 leaders have finally agreed on a plan to impose digital currencies and digital IDs on their own citizens.
They came to a conclusion on the subject over the past weekend in New Delhi and announced that they have agreed to build the necessary infrastructure required to implement digital currencies and IDs.
The group said that discussions to regulate cryptocurrencies internationally were ongoing, but claimed that there was “no talk of banning cryptocurrency” at the summit.
Many critics are concerned with the fact that governments and central banks will eventually regulate cryptocurrencies and replace them with central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which are not credible as they lack privacy and security.
Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that discussions geared at building a global framework to regulate crypto assets, are in the works. Since they believe cryptocurrencies cannot be regulated efficiently without total international cooperation.
“India’s [G20] presidency has put on the table key issues related to regulating or understanding that there should be a framework for handling issues related to crypto assets,” Ms. Sitharaman said.
Gita Gopinath, the International Monetary Fund’s first deputy managing director, said in a video posted on X that the G20 “helped shape a global perspective on how policymakers should deal with crypto assets,” and she assured that there was “no talk of banning cryptocurrencies,” However, some of the suggestions call for additional policing of cryptocurrencies, which are decentralised and do not operate under central banks’ control.
With what is akin to an ominous call for increased global collaboration and centralization, European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen at the G20 Summit, appealed for an international regulatory body for Artificial Intelligence and digital ID systems similar to the COVID-19 vaccine passports. He audaciously proclaimed that our collective future be digital; hence the implied need for countries to globally draw boundaries and enforce regulations.
Some of the issues discussed at the New Delhi summit includes: “building Digital Public Infrastructure, Digital Economy, Cryptoassets, [Central Bank Digital Currencies].”
