Cash and the economic system humanity has used for thousands of years is set to be defenestrated further as transaction volume on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) proprietary blockchains is set to more than double to $213 billion by 2030, according to a research firm.
UK-based Juniper Research issued the analysis in a March 13 release, noting that transaction volume is already $100 billion as of this year and that the projections merely “reflect[s] the early stage of the sector; currently limited to pilot projects.”
The statement is consistent with data openly published by globalist think tank Atlantic Council’s CBDC Tracker, which shows that 119 countries have CBDCs either installed or in the works.
According to the Atlantic Council, 11 countries are already live with the technology, concentrated in The Bahamas, Jamaica, the Caribbean islands, and Nigeria.
The Council regards Communist China’s Digital Yuan as remaining at the stage of pilot project.
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One of the more notable aspects of Juniper’s analysis is that more than 90 percent of the burgeoning transaction volume is expected to come from domestic payments.
“Since CBDCs are issued by central banks, they will be closely targeted to domestic payment challenges initially, with cross-border payments coming later, as systems become established and links are made between CBDCs used by individual countries,” the release states.
Global banking system cornerstone SWIFT announced on March 9 that following a successful pilot project with 18 central and commercial banks utilizing a pair of proprietary blockchains, one being a JP Morgan-created fork of the Ethereum protocol, that it would be pushing forward with a cross-border international solution for global CBDC settlements.
Juniper also stated that one of the factors keeping CBDC transaction volume under wraps for the time being is a “lack of commercial product development” causing there being “few well-defined platforms” available “for central banks to leverage.”
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Juniper’s figures show the business opportunity presented by the industry segment, especially when contrasted against a March 2022 analysis that stated the global social credit system was set to be a $16 billion industry as soon as 2025.
The transition from the traditional economic system to a CBDC requires the total elimination of cash. The process has shown itself to cause significant social turmoil in Nigeria.
Reports appeared on social media in February after the government attempted to eliminate a large portion of the circulating cash under the so-called “Naira Redesign Policy” showing large-scale destruction of bank branches and burned cars after “angry youths” took to the streets for violent protests.
The Redesign Policy, issued directly from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), says the “rationale” for eliminating circulating cash notes was based on data showing “a large volume of banknote hoarding by the public” and rendered existing banknotes as no longer legal tender as of the end of January.
On March 3, BBC reported that the situation had abated after the country’s Supreme Court ruled that the old banknotes must remain as legal tender through the end of 2023, stating that the CBN did not give the public enough time to convert their bills because the change was announced only in October 2022.
CBN’s move came the same month that Bloomberg noted the abysmal adoption rate of the system. At the time, under 0.5 percent of Nigerians had started using the eNaira.
“Nigeria’s central bank is turning to the nation’s three-wheeler taxi operators to speed the adoption of the eNaira, as regulators across the world scrutinize its every move,” the outlet stated, noting that taxis had started offering 5 percent discounts if people would pay with the government’s digital currency.
Bloomberg reported that CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele made it clear to the public during a ceremony unveiling the eNaira that, “The destination, as far as I am concerned, is to achieve a 100% cashless economy in Nigeria.”
In Canada, some netizens have showed concern that their banking system is transforming to a digital-only economy after TD Bank announced an update to its terms of service effective April 24 that will automatically opt clients into a proprietary third party digital ID system.
The update states that clients—unless they call in to a hotline to directly opt out—will be signed up for Verified.Me, described as “a third party digital identity service.”
Documents note that Verified.Me has been rebranded to the “Interac verification service,” a notable and trusted moniker as Interac is the company responsible for Canada’s ubiquitous tap-to-pay debit card and email funds transfer system.
The website for the company sells itself in the following way, “Verifying your identity can be an inconvenient task. Waiting in long lineups to show several pieces of ID and answering multiple security questions are just a few of the hassles that come with verifying your identity to get access to the services and products you want.”
“Verified.Me helps verify your digital identity using personal information that you consent to share from your Connections, like your financial institution, with service providers you want to transact with,” it adds.
TD’s use of a third party app is curious considering the Province of Alberta and the Province of Ontario both have government-issued digital ID systems already in place or operating under a pilot development.
A 2022 paper published by the Cato Institute titled Central Bank Digital Currency Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths stated that, “While a CBDC would not offer any unique benefits to Americans compared to existing technologies, it would pose serious risks.”
The statement was based on July 2022 reporting from the Institute based on Federal Reserve data on public letters submitted to the central bank on CBDCs that more than 2/3rds of respondents “were concerned or outright opposed to the idea of a CBDC in the United States.”
