On March 9, 2022, joe biden
joe biden Joe Biden President , President of the United States signed an Executive Order establishing the governmentโs plan to regulate cryptocurrencies.
Over the past few years, digital assets such as cryptocurrencies have seen explosive growth, even climbing past the $3 trillion market cap in November 2021. As per estimations, roughly 40 million people have invested, traded, or used cryptocurrencies in general.
With levels of such immense escalation, the US took the chance to step up and lead the global financial system by finding a way to stay on the cusp of the digital currency evolution while protecting consumers, businesses, and the broader financial system. Hence, Order #14067, โEnsuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets,โ also known as President Bidenโs executive order on crypto, was executed.
In this context, on September 7, James Rickards, former advisor to the Pentagon, the White House, Congress, the CIA, and the Department of Defense joined the author of the personal finance book โRich Dad, Poor Dadโ Robert Kiyosaki on The Rich Dad podcast, to discuss the order, calling it โspyware.โ
โThis would dramatically expand the power and influence of the federal government <โฆ> essentially acting as a new type of โspyware.โ
R. Kiyosaki went on to compare this order to a dystopian-sounding future like George Orwellโs 1984 novel:
โJim this is like George Orwellโs Big Brother is watching, on steroids.โ
Rickardโs worries have emerged because of the โhidden agendaโ behind the executive order. According to him, the orderโs agenda is accelerating the move toward the central bank digital currencies (CBDCs), which Kiyosaki earlier tagged as โspyware.โ
Rickardโs said, โThis is why weโre sounding the alarm a little bit on executive order 14067. Once itโs digital <โฆ> now theyโre going to know what youโre buying. Because every product has an SKU โ stock keeping unit code. With it, with a QR scan digital scan, they would know what youโre buying uh, and this digital currency is programmable meaning they can block certain purchases or not.โ
The main matter of concern is that a central bank digital currency, in addition to making the transactions possibly cheaper and faster, will give rise to a scenario similar to the world in Orwellโs book โ1984โ, where a โBig Brotherโ would hold the reins of finances and control decisions people made in their lives.
It is hard to debate that a tracking mechanism wonโt be built into the central digital currency. On the other hand, it is difficult to predict an Orwellian relation to the entire saga.
In general, oversight and legislation regarding digital currencies donโt necessarily have to be a negative thing. Time will tell how it plays out in the end.
The Executive Order of March 9
As per an official statement issued on March 9 by the White House, the government planned to lay out the first strategy to protect consumers, financial stability, and national security, and address climate hazards.
The statement declared that:
โPresident Biden will sign an Executive Order outlining the first ever, whole-of-government approach to addressing the risks and harnessing the potential benefits of digital assets and their underlying technology.โ
Additionally, the White House announced in the press release:
โThe Order lays out a national policy for digital assets across six key priorities: consumer and investor protection; financial stability; illicit finance; U.S. leadership in the global financial system and economic competitiveness; financial inclusion; and responsible innovation.โ