Are you fucking awake yet, because you sound like a bunch of sleeping sheep.
From the outside these "red packets" - as they became known - look just like the cards that are common presents all over China. Each is loaded with 200 Yuan. About a tenner, give or take. Small change. That money can be spent in 3,000 places in the city. Shops, restaurants and cinemas all accept it. It appears to work just like normal currency. But these red packets are hiding something. The money loaded onto them is different - radically different - to the rest of currency in circulation. It's new. Digital. And unlike normal money, it's programmable. The CCP can see every transaction, track every purchase and monitor every cent of the money that's being spent - in real time. Not only that, these `red packets' can be coded with government-set rules, meaning they can only be spent on state approved purchases. It's a new form of controllable money that has never existed before And it allows the state to `track and trace' all money - and police behaviour it doesn't like. It's what the International Monetary Fund calls "the future of money". CNBC called it "the next big disruptive force on the horizon". And the Bank of International Settlements said it's "likely to be a game changer in the financial system". This money is nothing like the cash in your pocket. It's a perfect tool of control. Just look at China. Soon after appearing in Shengzhen, this new digital money began to crop up all over China. Next it was Guangzhou. Then Beijing... Shanghai... Hangzhou... Fuzhou... Xiamen... and countless other cities. It fits perfectly into the CCP's plans. You may not know this - but the Chinese authorities are building a social credit system - designed to reward "good" citizens... ...and punish "bad" behaviour. The state can punish people for playing too many video games... buying "frivolous" items... posting the wrong thing online... or smoking in
Those MaxiSheeple and CypherSheep who do not continue to speak and educate others on Freedom from Tyranny and its Money, will end up with a global Tyranny of CBDC's over them shutting down their every freedom forevermore... CBDCs: Digital Wolves In Sheep's Clothing https://fortuneandfreedom.com/the-city/cbdcs-digital-wolves-in-sheeps-clothi... https://pro.southbankresearch.com/m/2136423 https://pro.southbankresearch.com/o/FSL-1222-CBDC/WUKIZ103 John Butler via FortuneAndFreedom.com People like to remark that governments foster innovation, especially during wartime. They also like to ignore the slaughter of millions which is usually part of this process. That is not to mention the innovators we missed out on as a result. The latest government “innovation,” which follows in a long tradition of stealing ideas from the private sector designed to improve our lives and using them for other means instead, is central bank digital currencies (CBDCs). Designed not to exist in any physical form whatsoever, CBDCs would give their central bank issuers entirely new powers. Indeed, much of the manoeuvring that was required in 2008-9 to rescue the financial system with taxpayer-funded bailouts would have been so much easier had CBDCs been in existence. But if easier, is that necessarily a good thing for the economy as a whole? Nigel Farage doesn’t seem to think so. And he has come up with a plan to counter the government’s efforts. To answer the question, it is important to differentiate between CBDCs and the concept of private, distributed digital currencies, including those such as bitcoin, that are built using distributed-ledger technology (DLT). In some ways they are opposites. Rather than offer an alternative currency, CBDCs are mostly aimed at making monetary policy easier to implement and, potentially, more powerful. As monetary officials have repeatedly made clear, they have no interest in replacing their policy discretion with algorithms, blockchains or any other form of private-sector solution. Recently, Pablo Hernández de Cos, the chairman of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, the regulatory branch of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS, the “central bank of central banks” which is based in that Swiss city), made the following comments with respect to DLT: DLT could, in principle, allow for cheaper, faster and more customised financial intermediation. But, here again, such benefits must be weighed against the risks if not properly regulated and managed. These include potential threats to banks’ operational resilience, a lack of legal clarity with regard to assets transacted on DLTs, and concerns with regard to anti-money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Financial system regulators have a bad habit of associating everything that is unregulated with money laundering and terrorism, when in fact the vast bulk of such activity takes place within the incumbent banking and payments system. Such invidious associations should be seen as primarily self-serving rather than anything necessarily in the public interest. The Bank of England appears to share these sentiments. Earlier this month, the Bank published the following note: In the traditional financial system, critical financial infrastructure is regulated to deliver an appropriate level of responsibility, accountability, and control. In the future, critical third parties providing material services to the UK financial sector (eg cloud service providers) may also be subject to regulatory requirements. So, there is a question as to what appropriate regulatory oversight of a blockchain could entail, were it to become a more critical piece of infrastructure in the financial system. Blockchains do not constitute critical financial infrastructure (yet). But they could conceivably become so in the future if cryptoasset activity and its interconnectedness with the wider financial system continue to develop. So, it is important that relevant authorities find legal mechanisms and means of co-ordinated action to ensure that an equivalent regulatory outcome is delivered. Hence CBDCs, once introduced, are not intended to displace, but to migrate existing, centralised, regulated monetary systems from paper based to wholly digital. There will still be legal tender laws requiring their acceptance for payment, and penalties for counterfeiting or other forms of fraud. Money laundering will still be a crime. And central banks will still control monetary policy. Indeed, their control of monetary power will grow. As it stands today, while central banks set interest rates and conduct open-market operations (e.g. quantitative easing) these actions only have a direct impact on the reserves of the banking system which, for many years now, have been essentially digital. Yes, banks do hold some physical cash in reserve, but it is such a tiny portion of their overall balance sheet as to be practically irrelevant. The broader money supply, including the amount of physical cash in circulation, various types and amounts of bank deposits and credit, fluctuates along with economic activity and liquidity preferences. Thus, when the global financial crisis arrived in 2008, central bankers slashed interest rates and created huge amounts of reserves, but this did not prevent a general contraction in credit. Liquidity preferences spiked, including a desire to hold larger amounts of physical cash. Given that multiple banks failed or had to be rescued, and that interest rates had declined to essentially zero, holding physical cash seemed an entirely reasonable thing to do. But it did have the effect of limiting central banks’ ability to add further monetary stimulus to their economies. As one central bank after another began to consider lowering interest rates to outright negative levels, one immediate and obvious complication was that savers would seek to avoid negative rates by reducing their bank deposits in favour of physical cash hoards. Such a run on deposits would not only negate the proposed further stimulus, but would have the counterproductive effect of reducing banks’ normally stable depositor base. CBDCs expand central bank power, for better or worse CBDCs provide economic officials with a solution to this perceived problem: once introduced, a purely digital currency cannot be physically withdrawn. No matter if central banks cut interest rates to below zero, even dramatically so, in an effort to get savers to spend more. The digital currency must remain in the banking system. It may circulate more as households and businesses seek to pass the depreciating “hot potato” around, but there is no other option. A bank run on the system as a whole becomes impossible. CBDCs also give central bankers the de facto power to “tax” deposits, or to supplement them with stimulus cash, as they did during the pandemic. But they would also give them the ability to easily track and trace every transaction, no matter how tiny, and perhaps embed some sort of sales, VAT or transactions tax, depending on the type of transaction involved. To what extent these new powers would be used or abused is unclear, and a merging of monetary and fiscal policy in this way would no doubt be political, but CBDCs would enable a complete fusion of monetary and fiscal policy, if desired, and would make any form of avoidance or evasion on the part of households or businesses all but impossible outside of direct barter. The end of financial privacy? Financial privacy, something that has been eroding for many years, would vanish entirely. That is not to say that there could not be safeguards. And there are ways to help protect yourself. But here, too, the extent that individuals’ transaction histories would be visible to the authorities would need to be decided as a political matter. This latter point helps to explain why there is much public disagreement amongst economic officials about how best to regulate private digital currencies and prevent their use for money laundering, tax evasion or other illicit economic activities. Whether public or private, purely digital currencies leave the ultimate “paper trail” that can be followed back to inception. Yes, individuals can use cryptography to protect their privacy on a public blockchain, hence why bitcoin is frequently referred to as a “cryptocurrency”. In a 2021 article, the former acting director of the CIA, Mike Morell, made precisely this point, calling bitcoin a “boon for surveillance,” and noting that “concern over bitcoin’s use for illicit finance is significantly overstated.” He should know. The CIA is known to monitor international financial transactions as it seeks to discover the source of all manner of activity, illicit or otherwise, that is considered a threat – real or potential, distant or immediate – to the national security of the United States, and to draw connections between both state and non-state actors whenever possible. CBDCs as international reserves The international arena is an interesting one for CBDCs, not only in that they would facilitate the ability of authorities to monitor cross-border transactions, but also because they could potentially disrupt the existing international monetary order. The global financial system remains centred around the US dollar: it is worth considering whether another country’s CBDC, once successfully implemented domestically, could displace the dollar and provide the new global reserve. Given that international reserve balances are already, in effect, digital in nature, the introduction of CBDCs doesn’t fundamentally change the game in this respect. Reserves remain within the banking system and are not “spent” in the way that domestic physical currencies are. Rather, as they are accumulated, they are sometimes sold to purchase securities of some sort, such as government bonds, or they are exchanged for other currencies, or sometimes gold. Whether or not the dollar eventually loses its exclusive international reserve status will be down to other factors. It could be that China, Russia, Japan, Germany or the big oil exporters eventually tire of accumulating dollars that seem destined to lose value to inflation over time. The war in Ukraine and associated economic sanctions might also catalyse some changes in international monetary behaviour. Dollar-dependent trade is a relatively easy target for sanctions, but if other currencies are used instead, sanctions become far harder to enforce. It should surprise no one that political leaders from Russia, China, India, Turkey and others have all made recent public statements to the effect that they have been actively seeking alternatives to the dollar even since Washington imposed war-related sanctions. Were the above and other countries to indeed find a means to avoid the dollar in trade entirely, this would imply a severe reduction in the dollar’s global monetary role. Could the weaponisation of the dollar have, in fact, been counterproductive? Imagine Messrs Putin, Xi, Modi and Erdoğan channelling Napoleon (as discussed in yesterday’s edition of Fortune & Freedom): “Never interrupt the Americans when they are making a mistake!” Dollar dominance on the wane, but NOT due to CBDCs Having written extensively on the topic of global monetary regime change, in my opinion there is currently no national currency alternative to the dollar. All of them have problems of their own. Should the primary candidates migrate to CBDCs in future, with the US government opting for whatever reason to be left behind, doesn’t necessarily imply that the dollar would not remain the dominant reserve. Of course, the US government might opt not to be left behind at all, but rather to place itself in the vanguard of the thrust to introduce a universal CBDC serving all modern monetary roles, including that of provide for the bulk of the international monetary reserve base. In a project of Napoleonic ambition, the US government could simply explain that all existing dollar balances be converted into a purely digital dollar and that, over some period of months, all physical currency would need to be redeemed for digital dollar balances in an account or would simply expire worthless. However, what if, subsequent to such a move, multiple major countries in the world pushed back? For example, what if they shared some of the concerns mentioned above, including, perhaps, that the US government would abuse its dominant reserve position by not providing for a fair market interest rate or, perhaps, implementing an outright negative dollar interest rate as a de facto tax on foreign-held dollar balances? In a way not dissimilar to Napoleon’s sense of near invulnerability when he set about invading Russia, the US government might find the rest of the world pursuing a form of defence in depth, finding ways to reduce reliance on the dollar. Perhaps some countries would even engage in a form of “scorched-earth” policy in which they required domestic economic agents to transact internationally in non-dollar currencies only. Certainly such policies would be disruptive, but perhaps some actors would perceive their cost of their implementation to be less than to remain dependent not only on the dollar, but on a newfangled dollar CBDC which, paradoxically, gave the US Federal Reserve more power over global monetary conditions than it had ever had: nevertheless, this would be at a time when relative US global economic power had slipped to its lowest ebb since the 19th century. What about digital gold? If the dollar’s role continues to decline, there is a candidate that is more likely than any particular CBDC to replace it: gold. Gold is the only truly international money, accepted everywhere as a reliable store of value, and one with the strongest possible historical track record providing the de facto global monetary base and, under the classical gold standard, the de jure one. As I argue in my book, The Golden Revolution, Revisited, gold provides the game-theoretic monetary solution to a globalised, multipolar world. So, while I don’t see CBDCs changing the international monetary regime on their own, it would be a real game-changer indeed if one or more CBDCs were to be linked to gold in some way. That would introduce real, tangible, perhaps irresistible competition for the dollar as the dominant global reserve. As it stands now, however, it seems a more immediate concern that CBDCs will not only make it easier for central banks to implement negative interest rates, if desired, but that they will acquire a range of new, implied powers. Thus they bring with them broad implications for tax and fiscal policy, financial privacy and the ability for households to preserve their wealth in what has already become a highly challenging economic environment. If you share our concern about these threats, why not take a look at Nigel Farage’s plan to side step them with some of your wealth? Source list 1. "The Future of Money: Gearing up for Central Bank Digital Currency" International Monetary Fund, 09/02/22 2. "China's 'social credit' system ranks citizens and punishes them with throttled internet speeds and flight bans if the Communist Party deems them untrustworthy" Business Insider, 28/11/22 3. "Government Mulls Money That Can Only Be Spent on Approved Items" Mind Matters, 25/02/22 4. "105 Countries Are Exploring Central Bank Digital Currencies, CBDC Tracker Shows" Bitcoin.com, 06/06/22 5. "Inflation 'will soar to 50-year high of 18.6% by end of January'" Metro News, 22/08/22 6. "UK Pensions Still Dumping Assets Before BOE Pulls Support" Bloomberg, 06/10/22 7. "The Gold Standard System" World Gold Council, accessed on 09/12/22 8. "The Devaluation of the British Pound, September 21, 1931" New World Economics, 22/05/2016 9. "Nixon Broke With Gold 50 Years Ago. What Comes Next?" Bloomberg, 15/08/21 10. "Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs)" ConsenSys, accessed on 09/12/22 11. "The digital currencies that matter" The Economist, 08/05/21 12. "Private-sector CBDC activity cranks up in UK" Global Government Fintech, 19/08/22 13. "What If Central Banks Issued Digital Currency?" Harvard Business Review, 15/10/21 14. "Australia is investigating a digital currency, or e-dollar, but its benefits seem slight and the risks to privacy large" The Conversation, 05/05/22 15. "China's Digital Yuan Is All about Data--and, Perhaps, Control" Industry Week, 01/09/21 16. "The Central Bank Digital Currency is on the horizon" The Spectator Australia, 07/03/22 17. "Canadian 'Freedom Convoy' vows to stay in Ottawa as tens of thousands of protesters pledge to 'create chaos' until government reverses vaccine mandates: Vital US border route is blocked after Trudeau flees city and Elon Musk backs truckers" Mail Online, 31/01/22 18. "Canada says it will freeze the bank accounts of' Freedom Convoy' truckers who continue their anti-vaccine mandate blockades" Business Insider, 15/02/22 19. "Canadian MP says single mom has had her bank account frozen for donating $50 to Freedom Convoy" Daily Mail, 21/02/22 20. "BoA snooped through hundreds of accounts looking for Capitol rioters" Daily Mail, 05/02/21 21. "China hands out $1.5 million of its digital currency in one of the country's biggest public tests" CNBC, 12/10/20 22. "CBDC pilot: Payments industry group to launch trial for UK digital currency" City A.M. 09/02/22 23. "Prepare for `Britcoin'? Bank of England and HM Treasury launch CBDC taskforce" Global Government Fintech, 19/04/21 24. "Cryptocurrency fans are very excited about having Rishi Sunak as PM" Metro News, 26/10/22 25. "Powell Says Fed Plans Recommendation to Congress on CBDC" CoinDesk, 23/06/22 26. "European Central Bank Advances CBDC Project" Comply Advantage, 26/05/22 27. "Central Bank Digital Currency Experiments" Bank of Japan, 26/05/22 28. "UK central bank digital currency" Bank of England, 01/09/22 29. "Central Bank Digital Currency Tracker" Atlantic Council, 09/12/22 30. "Contactless makes up a third of all payments, while cash use falls again in 2021" UK Finance, 17/08/22 31. "China's Digital Yuan: A Threat to Freedom" Cato, 25/08/21 32. "China's Digital Yuan Is All about Data--and, Perhaps, Control" Industry Week, 01/09/21 33. "Obituary: The 17^th Earl of Lauderdale" Church Times, 17/12/08 34. "Great Moments: Kennedy, Cuba and Cigars" Cigar Aficionado, accessed on 09/12/22 35. "Why Savvy Investors Include Argyle Pink Diamonds" Leibish, accessed on 10/11/22 36. "Markets 2022: These 3 charts show just how bad assets performed" Fortune, 01/07/22 37. "When will house prices fall?" Times Money Mentor, 07/12/22 38. "CBDC systems should focus on programmable payments" OMFIF, 12/12/22 39. "`Britcoin' not bitcoin? UK considers new digital currency" Reuters, 19/04/21 40. "The UK economy could be transformed by a central bank digital currency" The Guardian, 14/06/21 41. "UK May Need Digital Pound, Bank of England's Jon Cunliffe Says" CoinDesk, 21/11/22 42. "How banks and the government keep track of suspicious financial activity" PBS NewsHour, 17/05/18 43. "Wall Street banks brace for digital dollars as the next big disruptive force" CNBC, 19/04/21 44. "US Dollar Devalues by 99% vs Gold in 100Years as Gold Price Crosses $2,067" The Gold Observer, 06/08/20 45. "International Dimension of CBDC: A Network Analysis" Bis, accessed on 09/12/22 46. "China hands out $3 million of digital yuan as JD.com becomes first online platform to accept it" CNBC, 06/12/20 47. "China plans to hand out $1.5 million in a digital currency test during the Lunar New Year" CNBC, 08/02/21 48. "China's digital yuan is now in 23 cities" Yahoo Finance AdvertInfo This promotion - while not financial advice - should be read carefully. It contains the important information, facts and figures you need to make an informed decision - including the risks to your capital involved - about our research. If you are unsure whether this type of investing is right for you, seek independent personal financial advice. As the IMF announce "the history of money is entering a new chapter", we take a look at... Britain's New "Track And Trace" Enabled Currency Thanks to Rishi Sunak's new plan, the government could soon have the power to track every pound you spend... decide what you can and can't buy... and even lock your money down if you're spending on the `wrong' things... Dear Fellow Brit, For the first time in half a century, the British authorities are preparing to issue a new currency... ...and if you have ANY money in a British bank account, you need to know how it works. To understand why, let me tell you a story... It begins in China. In Shenzhen, to be exact. October, 2020. The height of the pandemic. In 50,000 homes all over the city, people wake to find these gift cards waiting for them: [3]chart Source: Reuters the wrong place. Do the "wrong" thing and people can find themselves banned from flying, barred from top hotels... one student even had his university spot cancelled due to his father's poor social credit score. In one year alone, the state blocked 17.5 million airplane tickets... and 5.5 million high speed train journeys. So how does a programmable currency fit in? It's the next step. It can give the state total control over people's money... Allows the authorities impose rules on what people can do with their money and their lives... And makes it easy to punish people if they step out of line. Sounds like something from the pages of 1984, doesn't it? But it gets worse. Because this isn't just something the Communists have cooked up. The same technology is under development in more than 100 countries around the world. But if you're proud of Britain's history as a freedom-loving nation... A place where the state leaves law-abiding people like you alone to live your life the way you want... Where things like privacy and liberty are hard won rights we ALL enjoy. Well, you may be wrong. Because right now, as you read these very words... Plans are under way to create a currency EXACTLY like this right here in Britain. Of course, the authorities CLAIM that just because they can track and control your money... that doesn't mean they will. And that's true. If you believe them. Whether you DO believe them or not is up to you. After all, some people love the idea of the state being in total control of the monetary system. If that's you, I wish you good luck. But if you think that there's even the slightest chance the authorities might use this new programmable money to infringe on your privacy, your rights and your ability to control your money... Then stick with me. In fact, as you're about to see, a toxic mix of state organisations and giant global corporations... ...including the Bank of England... the Treasury... IBM... Barclays... ...even 10 Downing Street... ...are all COLLABORATING on making this kind of `track and trace' currency a reality here in Britain. This new currency could fundamentally change how and where you spend your money, and live your life. That's because it won't just be issued by the state, like the money in your pocket. It'll be CODED by it too. Every pound you spend could be watched, around the clock... You could be stopped from buying the wrong things, whether that's a diesel car or donating to the wrong political party... You could be forced to buy into the latest fad, like electric vehicles or plant-based meat... And your money could even be locked down or deleted if you step out of line... It's a radical change to how your money works today. Take a -L-50 out of a cashpoint and you can spend it however you like. Yes, the Bank of England can control how many pounds are in circulation... and what interest rate those pounds pay. But beyond that, you're free to do as you please with your money. Beer. Cigarettes. Diesel. Political donations. A train journey or short flight. It's your money. You're free to spend it how you like... even on stuff that's bad for you (or bad for the planet). But programmable currency flips this on its head. And that's why you need to take it seriously. In fact, if you're not... Then I hate to say it, but perhaps you don't value your freedom or privacy as much as you thought. Think back to lockdown... when the authorities decreed where you could go... who you could see... how far you could travel... even what medications you put in your body... Now imagine that level of control over your money. And not just for a few months... but FOREVER How long will it be before we all wake up to find the new currency is here for good? I can't say. But if you join the dots, the picture becomes clear - some form of programmable money is in the works: the UK already has a digital currency `taskforce'. [4]chart Source: Reuters The Bank of England has begun a `consultation'. The Deputy Governor of the Bank of England has claimed Britain may "need" a digital currency. And in November 2022, a consortium including IBM, Boston Consulting Group and Barclays Bank began trialling one. So we're much further down the road than you might realise. But what I can say for certain is right now you still have time to DO SOMETHING about this. One day that time will run out. That's why in this briefing I'm going to share four things you can DO with your money to help protect yourself as this new digital currency launches. If you value your money and your freedom, then making these four moves now will put you one step ahead of most people. We'll talk more about what you can DO in just a second. But first, I should explain why I'm writing to you today. What went wrong with Britain Time was, you could save and invest without worrying about what the state thought of you. Yes, you'd pay taxes. But it ended there. The state stayed out of people's business. Savers, wealth builders and entrepreneurs were celebrated. Putting money aside for the future or starting a business was respected. But now? It's all upside down. The government is up to its eyeballs in debt. [5]chart Source: UK Public Spending No matter what the problem is, the answer seems to be the same thing. Spend more. An energy crisis. A pandemic. A climate disaster. There's no problem that can't be solved by more spending, more debt, more reckless decision making. Never mind the fact all this excess has already triggered an inflation crisis unlike anything seen in 50 years. And forced the Bank of England to step in to bail out the entire pension system. Of course, if you've got half a brain you can see what's really happening here. The authorities are losing their grip They can't balance the books. They can't maintain the currency. They can't even manage the economy - without `emergency' interventions every five minutes. And soon, if the rumours are true, they won't be able to keep the lights on. The answer? They need new ways of CONTROLLING what you do with your money. They want to `manage' the economy on a micro level. And that's where Britain's new digital currency comes in. It's the next logical step in this process. It takes the kinds of rules and restrictions on who you could see and where you could go in the pandemic... And applies them to your MONEY. Their boot, your face There have been two major changes to how money works in the last century. The first came as the Great Depression struck in the late 1920s. Back then, most currencies were still backed by gold, which imposed natural limits on what governments could borrow and spend. But with a crisis to fight, that went out the window. Governments around the world - including our own - took their currencies off the gold standard. That gave them the freedom to devalue and spend more freely. Soon the pound had plummeted in value against gold. [6]chart Source: New World Economics The second shift came in 1971, when US President Richard Nixon stopped the dollar's convertibility into gold. That made it even easier for the authorities - and their friends in the banking system - to borrow and spend vast sums of money. Since then, the real value of the US dollar has plummeted... as has every fiat currency in the world, including the pound. Take a look: [7]chart Source: CPI Inflation calculator Two big shifts in the way money works. But one common thread. Each shift granted the authorities MORE power to do as they please... and stripped it AWAY from ordinary people. And that brings me to today... The next big change to the money we use goes much further than anything yet seen. It won't just allow the authorities to create money out of thin air... But it'll give them the power to TRACK where it is... CONTROL how it's spent... And PUNISH anyone who steps out of line. It's the ultimate tool of control This new form of money - known as a Central Bank Digital Currency, or CBDC - runs on the blockchain, the same technology that underpins cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. It's 100% digital. This is not physical cash you can hold in your hand... or withdraw if your bank gets into trouble. And unlike cryptocurrencies, many of which are decentralised and not controlled by any one organisation. This new money is controlled by the state. The authorities create the code... and get to set the rules. And that grants them a never-before-seen level of control over how and where that money gets spent. As The Economist put it: "These "govcoins" [CBDCs] are a new incarnation of money. They promise to make finance work better but also to shift power from individuals to the state, alter geopolitics and change how capital is allocated... Once ascendant, [they] could become panopticons for the state to control citizens: think of instant e-fines for bad behaviour." Note the choice of language. [8]Circular prison Source: Medium A `panopticon' is a kind of prison. The concept was `invented' in the 18^th century by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham, who thought the only way to alter society for the better was through constant, unverifiable surveillance. He imagined it as a circular prison, with an observation tower in the centre. That tower can - theoretically - see inside every single cell. But the inmates can't see into the tower. They can't know if they're being watched. It's psychological torture. And yet the boffins at The Economist openly chose THAT specific word to describe how these new currencies work. Even the Harvard Business Review has admitted that "one obvious risk is privacy" if a CBDC is introduced. China's government has dealt with these fears with a move right out of 1984. China's government, but not other users, would have the ability to monitor transactions in real time, in what China calls "controlled anonymity". That means no corporation or company can track transactions using the new currency. Users are completely anonymous... ...to everyone EXCEPT THE GOVERNMENT. So, not anonymous then. But to be honest, privacy is the least of your worries. After all, most governments now routinely lean on banks to track and monitor transactions, if they so choose. So if you want true financial privacy, you need a time machine. No - the real threat of these new currencies is the fact that the state controls the code they run on... which makes it possible for the authorities to program them to do all sorts of dark and devious things. No more burgers for you, fatty Say the state decides to pay out a new benefit. It could program that money so that it can only be spent on essentials like food or fuel. But it could go further... It could make sure that money only worked on `approved' food - healthy food, say - to make sure people use it `correctly'. Might sound harmless on the face of it. But it opens up a Pandora's Box of new controls, regulations and ways to try and run your life. As The Australian Spectator asked recently: `So why on earth is this being pursued with such ambition? The only rational conclusion is control. Another form of government control... The CBDC will remove financial independence and autonomy from our lives.' Give the state this kind of power and it's unlikely to end there. The powers-that-be could not only force you to buy the `right' things... they could stop or limit you from doing the `wrong' thing, too. Had too many beers this week? Your money stops working at the bar. Eaten too much meat? Your money only buys vegan food now. Carbon footprint getting too high? No more flights for you. In other words, the authorities could have total control over how and where you spend your money. There's a term for all this: social engineering. Which is exactly what a digital currency would enable the state to do. In a recent Joe Rogan interview, digital currency expert Maajid Nawaz speculated on exactly this kind of outcome: `If you try to buy unhealthy meat it just won't work. You tap your card, you can't buy that thing, but because you've met your quota of burgers - you'll have to buy a vegan meal instead.' Getting people to eat less meat, or quit smoking, or burn less fossil fuels might all win a few extra votes. But what's that famous saying? The road to hell is paved with good intentions Being able to PROGRAM money to achieve whatever the political elite decide is a power no government has ever had before. But they're building the monetary system they need as we speak. They're not even hiding it. Just take a look at what the people who RUN the global money system are saying about this. Tom Mutton, a Bank of England Director, said that Central Banks should consider creating programmable money. He claims a CBDC: `Opens up new technological possibilities, including programming: effectively allowing a party in a transaction, such as the state or an employer, to control how the money is spent by the recipient.' More specifically, they could be used to pursue `socially beneficial outcomes'. To me, that sounds like using YOUR money to `engineer' a society the authorities want. Which should send a shiver down the spine of anyone who values their freedom or privacy So what might those outcomes be? Whatever they decide... This food is bad for you. That car is bad for the climate. The extra -L-100k in your bank is bad for social equality. Who knows exactly what kind of `outcome' the authorities will try to engineer. The point is... Once they control your money... they control YOU To see where all this is going... You only need look at how the EXISTING financial system has been turned into a tool of control - and a means of punishing people - in the last couple of years. Take the "Freedom Convoy" in Canada... At the start of the year, thousands of truckers blocked roads in Ottawa in protest against forced vaccination. In response the Canadian authorities turned the financial system into a weapon. Protestors found their bank accounts frozen... and their vehicle insurance declared invalid. Even DONATING to the cause was enough to see your account frozen. One single mum donated $50 to the truckers and woke to find her account locked. Which showed how willing the authorities are to use money as a weapon. We've seen the same pattern in the USA. It turns out, Bank of America gave the government details of 211 `suspicious' individuals connected to the January 6^th protests. BoA won't say if they were issued a warrant or subpoena... or whether the surveillance broke any laws. But innocent people were called in for questioning as a result. Now the search is on to find out how many other banks did the same thing. Look. It's easy to dismiss these cases. These people have been cast as anti-vaxxers... Trump voters... deplorables. They're easy targets. But add all this up and what do you get? Authorities that are willing to use money as a weapon... Who are developing a new programmable currency.... One that's trackable 24/7... Can be controlled by central planners... And used to punish anyone who steps out of line. And that includes our OWN government, by the way. Because that's a big objection people have when I warn them about this. They dismiss it as something that'll only ever happen in an authoritarian state like China... But that ignores the most important fact. It's being trialled RIGHT NOW If you're prepared to connect the dots, you'll see this kind of programmable currency looks like a foregone conclusion for Britain. Whether the state will USE it in the same way the Chinese Communist Party has remains to be seen. The Bank of England has said that any UK CBDC would run alongside cash and bank deposits and that they will continue to provide cash for as long as the public still want it. It all depends on whether you trust our government or not. Only you can make your mind up about that. But a quick look at the evidence shows you just how fast things are moving... EXHIBIT A: The Bank of England are already `researching' a programmable currency. Remember, Director Tom Mutton has already claimed `There could be some socially beneficial outcomes from that [programmable currency], preventing activity which is seen to be socially harmful in some way.' And there's already a `taskforce' set up to explore how a CBDC would work in Britain. EXHIBIT B: The Treasury is ALSO exploring how a digital currency would work. When he was Chancellor, Rishi Sunak charged the Treasury with the task of understanding how a new currency would work in Britain. He even gave it a name `Britcoin'. Sounds cute, doesn't it? Until you begin to understand just HOW a currency like this could be used. EXHIBIT C: Corporations are ALREADY TRIALLING IT. A private sector pilot of a digital currency called `d-Sterling' is already under way, backed by IMB, Barclays, the Boston Consulting Group, and London law firms Rosa & Roubini and Simmons & Simmons. That pilot began in November 2022. It's happening. And it's happening now. SMOKING GUN: Rishi Sunak is a HUGE supporter Sunak pushed the idea of `Britcoin' when he was Chancellor. Now he's in Number 10, he's got all the power he needs to continue his digital money crusade. Just look at his comments on the subject... `[A CBDC is] all part of the wider story of digital innovation that has delivered benefits to millions around the world and in the UK.' Gushing stuff. But thin on any REAL benefit to anyone except... him. Nobody voted for it. The man on the street has probably never heard of it. But all the signs suggest digital money is coming. Frankly, Sunak may find he has no choice. Every major Central Bank in the world is pursuing a CBDC. The US Federal Reserve... the ECB... the Bank of Japan... the Bank of England... they're all at it. In fact, 11 countries have ALREADY launched their CBDC. We may be forced to move just to avoid getting left behind. Add all that up and you'll probably reach the same conclusion as me. A programable digital pound is coming - and you need to prepare for it A private version of `d-Sterling' is already being piloted. Soon you'll probably hear news the banks and other tech businesses are using it. You'll hear a lot of technical mumbo jumbo about how the financial system is becoming faster, more efficient, more modern. It'll pass right over most people's heads. You'll hear even more stories about how use of cash is declining. It'll get harder to use cash. The number of card only shops and restaurants will keep growing. That initial CBDC `pilot' will grow into something much bigger. Then you'll hear news that all pounds - which are already `digital' - have been replaced with a new `Britcoin', issued by the state. Your bank balance won't change. And so most people won't notice. The fact that these new pounds are programmable won't get a mention in the mainstream media. But with that, the `bait and switch' will be complete. Then we could be just one crisis away from this new money being used against us. It could be money that expires unless it's spent, to stimulate the economy in a crisis... It could be used to lock you and your money down in a new public health crisis, meaning you can't spend a single pound unless the authorities deem it essential. Most likely, it will be used to limit the amount of carbon you and your family use, to help fight climate change... It could be anything. Everything is a `crisis' these days. Inflation. Inequality. The weather. Who knows what'll be next? The point is... once your money is programmed by the state, it's over. Privacy. Freedom. Liberty. It'll all be on the bonfire. As Alex Gladstein, chief strategy officer at the Human Rights Foundation, put it: `The end of cash and the insta-analysis of financial transactions enable surveillance, state control, and, eventually, social engineering on a scale never thought possible.' Dystopian? Absolutely. Look, I could be wrong. I HOPE I'm wrong. Of course, if Rishi Sunak or Andrew Bailey were here now, they'd probably accuse me of being extreme. They'd say that just because the authorities CAN program money doesn't mean they WILL. There's no guarantee they'll track your carbon use... or dictate what you can eat... or how you can spend your money. They COULD... But they won't. Now, ask yourself... Do you believe them? Do you trust the authorities NOT to use the extraordinary power a digital pound would grant them? Or do you think they'd just be tempted to meddle and interfere? I`ve laid out what's happening for you. And I've shown you where I think all this is going. I think the risks are clear. You may agree with me. Or you may not. I'll let you make your own mind up. But if you share my concerns and want to take some sensible precautions... Let's talk SOLUTIONS [9]Nickolai Hubble Financial author, analyst and insider - Nickolai Hubble My name is Nick Hubble. I'm a writer, author and investor. In fact, I actually started my career as an intern at Goldman Sachs. But now I do something far more interesting. I'm the editor of The Fleet Street Letter, Britain's oldest investment newsletter. Founded in 1938 with the goal of sharing `the news behind the news', The Fleet Street Letter has a long history of helping forward-thinking, responsible private citizens navigate their wealth through periods of war, political conflict and economic crises, not to mention the many investment booms along the way. Readers of this letter were warned that war was coming to Europe nine months before Hitler invaded Poland... They were the first in the West to know that the Soviets possessed nuclear weapons (invaluable if you were investing in defence stocks)... If you'd been reading this in 1987, you'd have had ten weeks to prepare before Black Monday brutalised investors... In 1999, you'd have been out the door four months before the dotcom bust arrived... In 2008, you'd have received a six-months heads-up before Lehman Brothers went broke... And from January 2016 to earlier this year, had you invested alongside The Fleet Street Letter's portfolio recommendations (and followed each one to a tee)... you would have grown a -L-100,000 investment pot into just under -L-200,000. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. And that brings me to today... Our mission at The Fleet Street Letter is very simple. To arm you with the intelligence and insights to stay one step ahead of the big financial and geopolitical trends shaping your world... And to show you what to actually DO with your money to protect and potentially profit from those trends. It's a big challenge. But one we're well set to take on. For instance, we offer our readers a fully vetted investment portfolio of trading ideas, stock picks and other wealth-building moves, put together by master trader Eoin Treacy. Eoin advises four different $100m funds... he's known the world over as an authority on the financial markets... ...in fact, there are several funds that don't let their traders on the trading floor until they've been coached by Eoin. Eoin's our Investment Director... the man who turns our INSIGHTS into ACTIONS you can take with your money. And then you have our real `trump card' - our `man on the inside' when it comes to politics, geopolitics and finance. Nigel Farage. See, Nigel's a big part of our team... bringing his decades of experience helping predict (and indeed shape) the political trends that have turned our world on its head. Nigel has incredible connections... amazing experience... and above all, he's willing to say and predict things that the elite may scoff at... until they come true. And let's face it: there are plenty of people who'll scoff at this message. The idea the government wants to impose TOTAL control over the people using a new, repressive form of programmable currency... Sounds dystopian, doesn't it? But as you've seen, there's strong evidence that it's coming... and much sooner than many people would think. So what should you do, if you're worried? It's not easy. There's no one easy move you can make. But I reckon you can put yourself ahead of the vast majority of others by making a handful of moves we've put together for you. The first step is simple: STEP #1: Understand everything you can about CBDCs [10]Circular prison The first thing we want to send you is a crucial online workshop called The Fleet Street Letter Guide To Surviving CBDCs. It's an in-depth conversation between me and Nigel Farage, designed to help you understand what your options are if you're worried about the rise of CBDCs. You'll see Nigel's take on the threat they present to you and your money. But we'll also talk you through the different options open to you if you want to protect yourself. Is gold better than bitcoin at protecting privacy? Will the stock market be safe? How much cash should you have as an `emergency fund'? Are bonds, commodities and other `mainstream' investments still safe? These are the kinds of questions we grapple with. You'll walk away much better informed... and with a clearer idea of what to do next. That's why I'd urge you to watch this video before you do anything else. But in step two of our plan, they'll help you go further than that... STEP #2: Get a portion of your money off the financial grid As long as your money is tied up in the `traditional' financial system - banks, savings deposits, that kind of thing... It's at risk of being converted into a new, digital only currency. Therefore, the only logical thing to do is get a some of your money out of the system. Exactly how much is your choice. I'm not just talking about taking cash out and stuffing it in your mattress. I mean investing OUTSIDE of the traditional stock, bond and real estate markets. For instance, there's one `non-financial' asset that even rich and powerful families like the Kennedy's have turned to through history - in fact, JFK personally put money into this whilst President. But it could still be a good bet today. Or there's another `hold in your hand' asset that's totally unconnected to the financial system - but that already increased in value by 367% in the decade to 2019, according to accounting firm PwC. That's BEFORE the supply of this asset decreased by 90%. You'll get the full story in the report. [11]Circular prison Plus you'll hear about seven other steps you can take today to get some of your money `off grid'. The good news is, we've just finished a new report that contains everything you need to get some of your money off the grid. It's called Real wealth: nine alternatives to the stock market. This report can be yours today. I'll show you how to download a copy in a second. But that's only part one of the plan... STEP #3: Put your faith in REAL money Gold can't be printed. It can't be manipulated. It can't be tracked... controlled... distorted... or managed by the state. In other words, it's the EXACT OPPOSITE of the centrally planned and managed money the authorities are working on at the moment. Gold is the most stable form of money the world has ever known. It's REAL money. Throughout human history, there have been thousands of currencies issued by governments. To my knowledge, they've all gone to zero in the end. (The Aussie dollar has lost 99% of its value against gold in the last 100 years... so we're nearly there once again.) But gold has been seen as currency across the globe for more than 5,000 years. And when digital currencies radically alter the global banking system... I'd rather put my faith in 5,000 years of human history. And, of course, it can't be tracked. So if you value your freedom and your privacy, owning gold is a must. That's why I want to send you another report we've put together ... [12]Circular prison It's called Gold 101: the unspoken advantages of a UK gold investor. Open up your copy and you'll get answers to questions like these: Is gold safe to invest in? How much should you invest in gold and other precious metals? Where can you buy it? How do you store it safely to avoid confiscation or a `lockdown' on money? What kinds of bullion and coins should you be looking to buy? And how could you `spend' gold if (or rather when) CBDCs launch? You can grab your copy of this report in just a second. It comes as a bonus when you become a subscriber to The Fleet Street Letter. This is quick and easy to do, and doesn't cost the earth. But it could have a BIG impact on your money Right now it's more crucial than ever that you have experienced, credible and knowledgeable financial advice and ideas. And not just because of the rapidly emerging threat of centrally controlled money. Look around you. Inflation has broken out to 40-year highs. Global stock markets have had a terrible year. So have bonds... cryptos... there are even signs property is on the slide. The point being, it's more than rough out there. Make the wrong move with your money and you can pay the price. But that's what we're here for: To help you make the right moves That's why today I'm inviting you to take a one year subscription to The Fleet Street Letter. You'll get the two reports I've told you about the second you subscribe. You'll also get: 12 issues of The Fleet Street Letter a year. The financial world moves fast. New trends and threats develop. Old ones die. There's no one single `set and forget' approach you can take to thrive in the modern financial world. That's why our monthly newsletters are so valuable. They're your way of staying up to date with the latest thinking, ideas, threats and opportunities. That might be a new risk developing... a new moneymaking opportunity... a new position for your portfolio. It depends what's happening in the world. But whatever IS going on... we'll be there, on your side and in your corner. Then you'll get: Full access to the The Fleet Street Letter portfolio [13]chart This is what REALLY sets our work apart from the mainstream. We're not just here to explain what's happening. We translate that into an entire portfolio of investment ideas you can go out and buy to turn that knowledge into action. Generally speaking, the recommendations we share with you will involve the stock market. That involves risk - as all investing does. Some of our recommendations may be listed abroad. That involves foreign currency risk. We'll explain this to you clearly with every new recommendation. In fact, EVERY SINGLE idea we share with you will contain a full write up of the risks, the potential rewards, everything. That's huge. Think about it. You can go pay -L-700 for a subscription to The Financial Times... But NOWHERE in those pages of news will you find a single investment recommendation. It's all fluff. All noise. It doesn't matter how many PhDs the editorial teams have. They're not sharing anything you can ACT ON. The Fleet Street Letter is different. You'll walk away from almost every issue with a fully researched investment recommendation that ties into our worldview. And here's the crazy part: though I'd argue we offer far more value, the cost of our work is a FRACTION of what you'd pay for a year of The FT. In fact, one year of The Fleet Street Letter costs just -L-199. That's it. That's all you pay for a team of world class financial analyst sharing their most valuable ideas AND investment recommendations. Why so cheap? Our business only really works when we have a committed, engaged readership that's willing to stick around long term. But we know that you're probably sceptical about people who make you promises on the internet. And we know you want to actually SEE our research before making up your mind. So we do two things: * We make sure some of our best research is priced WAY below its `true' value... so that any investor or saver can afford it. At -L-199, that's certainly true of The Fleet Street Letter. * We offer a complete 30 day money back guarantee on that subscription fee. Anything you pay today is fully refundable for 30 days. So if you're not delighted with the analysis, ideas and recommendations you're getting, you can get a full refund. That's a fair deal. And it puts the pressure where it should be - on ME and the team to deliver world class research. And to give you an extra incentive to give this a go, you can get your FIRST year of The Fleet Street Letter for half price... Bringing that first year price right down to -L-99. Let me tell you, that's an insanely low price. In that light, -L-99 for a year is practically giving this away. But it means there really is no reason for you to turn this offer down. If you want in, all you need to do is click RIGHT HERE, or on one of the `Subscribe Now' buttons below. You'll be taken you a secure order form. Everything you get as part of this offer is laid out in black and white. From there you'll be able to start your subscription. You should have all of your reports and guides in your inbox waiting for you within 30 minutes of starting your subscription. So if you share our concerns about loss of freedom, privacy and control a CBDC would entail... If you want a world class, highly respected team of experts in your corner... Then there's only really one thing left to do. Click the link below to get started. [14]`Subscribe Now' (You can review your order before it's final) Just remember what you're up against here. We're on the cusp of perhaps the biggest shift in the way money works of our lifetimes. The Bank of International Settlements said CBDCs were likely to be: `A game changer in the international financial system.' This is a fundamental shift to how money works. It could radically change your relationship with money and the state, turning money into a tool to watch you... and dictate what you can do. Track. Control. Punish. This is the `Techno-Communist' world the China is moving towards already... And our own government is preparing to trial the same kind of money. And if you think I'm exaggerating the threat... just look at the advice central banks are getting from the OMFIF, a think tank designed to shape Central Bank policy. `Programmable money is designed with in-built rules that constrain the user. These rules could mean that money expires after a fixed date or its use is restricted to a certain set of goods... CBDCs must include programmability as a feature.' If that last line worries you - and it worries me - then I reckon it should be all the motivation you need to take action. That's what we're here to help you do. Take action. Defend your freedom and your privacy. And take CONTROL of your own money. All you need to do to accept this offer and start your subscription now is click on one of the links below. Our team will do the rest. [15]`Subscribe Now' (You can review your order before it's final) I can guarantee you a warm welcome to The Fleet Street Letter. Best, [16]signature Nick Hubble Editor, The Fleet Street Letter December, 2022 [17]`Subscribe Now' (You can review your order before it's final) [18]chart Important Risk Warnings: Advice in The Fleet Street Letter does not constitute a personal recommendation. Any advice should be considered in relation to your own circumstances. Before investing you should consider carefully the risks involved, including those described below. If you have any doubt as to suitability or taxation implications, seek independent financial advice. General - Your capital is at risk when you invest, never risk more than you can afford to lose. Past performance and forecasts are not reliable indicators of future results. Bid/offer spreads, commissions, fees and other charges can reduce returns from investments. There is no guarantee dividends will be paid. Overseas shares - Some recommendations may be denominated in a currency other than sterling. The return from these may increase or decrease as a result of currency fluctuations. Any dividends will be taxed at source in the country of issue. Funds - Fund performance relies on the performance of the underlying investments, and there is counterparty default risk which could result in a loss not represented by the underlying investment. Bonds - Investing in bonds carries interest rate risk. A bondholder has committed to receiving a fixed rate of return for a fixed period. If the market interest rate rises from the date of the bond's purchase, the bond's price will fall. There is also the risk that the bond issuer could default on their obligations to pay interest as scheduled, or to repay capital at the maturity of the bond. Taxation - Profits from share dealing, including both capital gains and dividends, are subject to capital gains tax and income tax respectively. Interest received from bonds is subject to income tax. Capital gains from commodities are subject to capital gains tax. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future. The Financial Conduct Authority does not regulate certain activities, including the buying and selling of commodities such as gold, and investments in cryptocurrencies. This means that you will not have the protection of the Financial Ombudsman Service or the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Investment Director: Eoin Treacy. Editor-in-Chief: Nick Hubble. Editors or contributors may have an interest in shares recommended. Information and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of other editors/contributors of Southbank Investment Research Limited. Full details of our complaints procedure, privacy policy and terms and conditions can be found at, [19]www.southbankresearch.com. The Fleet Street Letter is issued by Southbank Investment Research Limited. Registered in England and Wales No 9539630. VAT No GB629 7287 94. Registered Office: 2nd Floor, Crowne House, 56-58 Southwark Street, London, SE1 1UN. ISSN 0300-4228 Contact Us To contact customer services, please call us on 0203 966 4580, Monday to Friday, 9.00am - 5.30pm. Southbank Investment Research is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. FCA No 706697. [20]https://register.fca.org.uk/. (c) 2022 Southbank Investment Research Ltd. Fleet Street Letter portfolio performance: Whisky Portfolio annual performance: 2017 +5.4% / 2018 -4.3% / 2019 +21.4% / 2020: +20.1% / 2021 +12.9% Soda Portfolio annual performance: 2017 +8.8% / 2018 -1.8% / 2019 +19.6% / 2020 +8.9% / 2021 +14.3%