Podcast personality, Joe Rogan, slammed the idea of an American central bank digital currency, or CBDC, declaring that if a digital U.S. dollar was forced on Americans, it would be “checkmate” and “game over” for the country.
There is fear among commentators that power-hungry bureaucrats would be easily able to manipulate people’s livelihoods to suppress any dissent without restraint by shutting bank accounts with a push of a button.
Last year, President Joe Biden instructed the federal government and Federal Reserve to lay the groundwork for a potential new U.S. digital dollar.
The order further directs the Treasury Department, Office of the Attorney General, and Fed to work together to produce a “legislative proposal” to create a digital currency within 210 days, about seven months.
Social Credit Score Fears
Post Malone joined Mr. Rogan to speak about the state of the U.S. financial system, which then turned to a discussion on the potential abuse of power that could come with CBDC use in the United States.When asked by his guest about what he thought about the CBDC that the Fed and the Biden administration have been working on, Mr. Rogan responded: “No way. That’s what I think. I think that’s checkmate. That’s game over.”
Mr. Rogan described a scenario in which the government could tie the use of CBDCs to one’s social credit score and warned that Americans could easily be cut off from their finances by federal officials for violating the rules.
“Because if they apply that to a social credit score, if they decide somehow or another that you need some social credit score system and it’s for the benefit of society, and they outline that, they can track your behavior and your tweets and all your things [...] They just decided you [expletive] up, and the rules are the rules,” he said.
Post Malone said that the government already has too much control over the flow of American’s finances and that they could potentially cut off funding to citizens without notice if the dollar is replaced by a digital version.
The two reminded viewers of the decision by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to freeze the bank accounts held by the “Freedom Convoy” truckers in February 2022 against vaccine mandates.
Post Malone also later criticized that Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) insurance only covers bank account values up to $250,000, calling it one of the biggest flaws with the U.S. banking system.
Financial instruments, such as stocks, bonds, money market funds, cryptocurrency, T-bills, safe deposit boxes, annuities, and insurance products, are also not insured by the federal agency.
Presidential Hopefuls Oppose
CBDCs have appeared in the 2024 presidential debates, with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida saying he would ban them if elected president after signing a bill banning them in his state.
Meanwhile. Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been promoting Bitcoin in his run for the Democratic Party presidential nomination against the incumbent, Mr. Biden.
Mr. Kennedy disclosed in July that he held up to $250,000 worth of Bitcoin investments and denounced CBDCs for being instruments of “control.”
He instead promised to back the U.S. dollar with hard assets, including gold, silver, platinum, and digital currencies like Bitcoin, if he were elected president.
“Backing dollars and U.S. debt obligations with hard assets could help restore strength back to the dollar, rein in inflation, and usher in a new era of American financial stability, peace, and prosperity,” said Mr. Kennedy.
“My plan would be to start very, very small; perhaps 1 percent of issued T-bills would be backed by hard currency, by gold, silver, platinum or Bitcoin,” he said.
His views echo similar sentiments from staunch supporters of decentralized cryptocurrencies.
The Joe Rogan Experience typically gets more than 11 million listeners per episode, while Post Malone has 31 million followers across X and Instagram.
