Nick Anthony

Responding to my work, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says, "I don't read the Cato Institute, but I do believe in financial surveillance"

Live Now🔴: Christine Lagarde of the ECB says it is “vital” to “rapidly adopt” the digital euro.

I guess it shouldn't be surprising that two members of Congress who tried to create a CBDC also oppose strengthening financial privacy. Get the full break down in @The Rage

The Rage

Rep. Lynch is Wrong on the Bank Secrecy Act

The Massachusetts Congressman claims the BSA is "highly useful" to combat terrorism. The data says otherwise.

Ratio the White House side quest: Complete.

There is nothing better than seeing a problem and deciding to fix it. Massive respect to @BITCOIN DADA. Another great addition to the CCN 2025 top 100. Remember, folks: You can just do things.

CCN.com

Ivan on Tech and Lorraine Marcel

Ivan on Tech equips developers to build what those users will actually use, while Lorraine Marcel brings new users into Bitcoin through community e...

Step 1: Campaign against CBDCs Step 2: Become President and issue an EO against CBDCs Step 3: Nominate the one pro-CBDC candidate, Kevin Warsh, for Federal Reserve Chair? Trump really is the president of contradictions.

Apologies all. I normally limit my Substack posts to one a week, but I managed to send two... at the exact same time. I'll hold off on any posts next week.

Banking, Bureaucracy, and Beyond | Nick Anthony | Substack

Everything you need to stay up to speed on the policy conversations surrounding central bank digital currency, financial privacy, banking, and more...

The ECB isn't hiding it. Europeans will be forced to use the digital euro.

We've all seen Brian Armstrong set the record straight at the World Economic Forum when the Banque de France governor said he doesn't trust the company running bitcoin. But did you know that's not the only thing the governor got wrong? https://www.cato.org/blog/french-central-bank-wrong Villeroy de Galhau also tried to appeal to history by pointing to the experience of free banking in the United States. He described this era as suffering from “many crises of confidence.” He did so in an attempt to undermine trust in private money, but the only trust undermined here should be that in governments. What he didn’t say is that crises occurred during this period in large part because of the laws and regulations in place that made banks unstable. My colleague, George Selgin, has gone to great lengths to correct this record. The general public may be forgiven for not knowing this history, but central bankers have no excuse. Villeroy de Galhau then said gold was a “sovereign asset” governed by the state. However, this claim is similarly misleading. The use of gold as money predates legal tender laws. Villeroy de Galhau took this opportunity to also say that CBDCs are the next evolution of money. If CBDCs are an “evolution” of anything, they reflect the evolution of state control over monetary systems—not a natural progression arising from the market. Turning away from the forum, Villeroy de Galhau also mentioned his support for CBDCs in his “New Year’s address.” Curiously, he said, “2026 will see the first central bank digital currency.” Taken as written, this statement is wrong. The first CBDC was arguably created in 1992. That project died, but CBDCs have seen a resurgence. China, India, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Russia, The Bahamas, and others have all launched CBDCs in one form or another. So, in the first 21 days of 2026, the Banque de France governor managed to get it wrong on Bitcoin, US history, gold, and CBDCs. That track record is almost as bad as central banks managing inflation.