Bitcoin purchases will ‘gone fast’ when CBDCs launch, says Arthur Hayes

Bitcoin (BTC) holders seeking to avoid central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) may have found a surprising ally: banks.

In his latest blog post titled pure evilArthur Hayes, former CEO of cryptocurrency derivatives platform BitMEX, argues that banks can limit the impact of CBDCs’ “terrible news”.

Hayes: Bitcoins and Banks vs CBDC ‘Dystopia’

CBDCs are currently at various stages of development around the world.

Of course, proponents of financial sovereignty fear, even loathe, them. Indeed, they suggest that total state control of everyone’s money and purchasing power is “a frontal attack on our ability to dominate honest transactions between us. said Hayes.

Among the opponents of CBDCs, however, it is not only bitcoiners. It is likely that the commercial banks that they asked to be removed from power will share their reason with BTC.

“I believe the apathy of the majority will make it easy for governments to take away our physical money and replace it with CBDCs, paving the way for a utopia (or dystopia) of financial surveillance. ”, explains the blog post. Hayes continues:

“However, we have an unlikely alliance that I believe will prevent the government from implementing the most effective CBDC architecture to control the entire population, and that alliance is the domestic commercial banks. »

By implementing a CBDC, a government could make the central bank the sole “node” in the digital network, or use commercial banks as nodes in a less radical overhaul of the financial system. Hayes calls these systems respectively the “direct model” and the “mass model”.

“Since all the countries that are at the stage of “choosing a CBDC model” have chosen at least the mass model, it is clear that no central bank wants to bankrupt its national commercial banks. “, he explained.

Therefore, in order to give banks a certain degree of ‘position’ while gaining benefits such as the elimination of cash, governments may finally come under a check on the types of entities known to restrict the transactions of crypto exchanges and ban exchange accounts.

“For politicians who care more about power than profit, this is their chance to completely destroy the influence of the Too Big Banks to Fail – and yet they still seem unable to do so do politically. Hayes added.

Capital controls are coming

The topic of CBDCs has received a lot of attention even beyond the crypto industry, as they represent a major shift in both currency and politics.

Also read: CBDCs are not a threat to crypto according to Binance CEO

In an interview with Cointelegraph last week, Richard Werner, a development economist and professor at De Montfort University, described them as a “declaration of war”.

“The banking regulator suddenly says we are going to compete with the banks now, because the banks don’t stand a chance. You cannot compete with the controller. “, he declared.

Meanwhile, Hayes commented on bitcoin as a safe haven that is still available to those already against any form of cashless economy, but not for long.

Buying BTC will become increasingly difficult, if not completely impossible, once CBDCs are in place.

“This window will not last forever. Capital controls are coming, and when the currency is all digital, and some transactions are not allowed, the ability to buy bitcoins will disappear quickly. “, he warned, adding:

“If either of these doomsday scenarios apply to you and you don’t have at least a very small % of your liquid net worth in bitcoins, yesterday was the best day to buy bitcoins. »

The views and opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Cointelegraph.com. All investment and trading involves risk, you should do your own research before making a decision.