My newest Cato Institute report is out now and breaks down what you (and Congress) need to know about debanking. https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/understanding-debanking-evaluating-governmental-operational-political-religious
This is your reminder that you can just do things.
Bulgaria is officially part of the Eurozone. With the end of the lev, Bulgaria now falls under the ECB when it comes to CBDC developments.
@HRF asked me to share one of my favorite freedom tech projects. Here's what I had to say about @vexl 😎 image 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.
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. image 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. image 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.
If you want to give yourself a gift this Christmas, follow @PUBKEY and @vexl 😎. Hands down the best organization accounts in the game if financial freedom banter is your thing. And if it isn’t, it should be… so follow them anyway.
Ironically, "CBDCs do not serve a purpose" is what I've been saying for years. image
Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but saying "anyone who opposes the digital euro" is effectively an enemy of the state does not exactly inspire confidence that the CBDC won't be abused. image
Some good news on the CBDC front! Norway has joined the growing list of countries saying no to CBDC.
After reading more than 300 pages of congressional transcripts from 1968-1970, I finally found the first instance in which someone said the Bank Secrecy Act would harm financial privacy. Clifford Sommer (American Bankers Association) urged Congress to reconsider what it was doing. Not a single witness before him (albeit, all government officials) seemed to be concerned about the Fourth Amendment or people's privacy. image