Thank you for reading and for the reasoned and thoughtful commentary.

I agree with you and despite my hope, I very much doubt the people that have arrogated themselves to power will give it up.

That said, I (we?) still ostensibly live in a constitutional republic. We've also had numerous (and radical) shifts in banking and national finance since the birth of the nation.

And, as I mentioned in a reply to another reader, there are multiple, functional models for a "code-is-law" based financial system working right now in the blockchain space.

With our national finances programmed similar to what FRAX Finance is doing, coupled with Bitcoin as a decentralised security layer, we have in our collective power to strip the power from those so-called "powers that be."

If we let them launch their own closed-source CBDC it will be a disaster. And, we don't have to let them do that.

The more I think about it, the more I believe we can and should promote a CBDC by the people and for the people, with auditable, open-source code, security enforced (or underpinned) by Bitcoin.

No one but the code would control currency issuance, loan origination, Treasury and Bond issuance, lending rates, etc. Basically, take the bankers out of banking.

Privacy could be coded in according to sensible rules, like requiring a warrant to unmask transactions. Unlike today, where ALL transactions are suspect, with bankers serving as state snoops.

Fingers crossed!