International Business Machines Corp is considering adopting the underlying technology behind bitcoin, known as the “blockchain,” to create a digital cash and payment system for major currencies, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Unlike bitcoin, where the network is decentralized and there is no overseer, the proposed digital currency system would be controlled by central banks.

– From the Reuters article: IBM Looking at Adopting Bitcoin Technology for Major Currencies

Many activists and thinkers in the anti-status quo world were understandably very suspicious of Bitcoin when it first entered mainstream consciousness during its run-up from $10 to $260 in spring 2013. I myself had heard of Bitcoin years before I publicly expressed my interest and support of the technology. With no tech background, I was immediately overwhelmed with the concept, and so I initially dismissed it and forgot about it. It was only in 2012, that I started asking questions of tech experts who I had become friends with it about it in order to calm my concerns. Considering these people have similar political leanings and are even more paranoid than I am about the corporate-gulag state, I felt somewhat reassured. Then, when I recognized the powerful political implications of the technology, I wrote my first public thoughts on it. The post was titled, Bitcoin: A Way to Fight Back Against the Financial Terrorists?

Here’s a key excerpt from the post, and what really got me interested in Bitcoin:

Although I have followed Bitcoin over the years a bit, I am admittedly pretty ignorant on the subject. What really caught my eye in the last couple of days was an article in Forbes detailing the fact that when the big financial institutions initiated a blockade on Wikileaks, the whistleblowing organization was still able to accept donations via Bitcoin.

The problem with Bitcoin, was that once it exploded onto the scene, everyone suddenly had to have an opinion. Whether or not this opinion was informed, or based on even the most basic understanding, wasn’t important. What was important is that you had to take a stand: yay or nay.

This was unfortunate. It led to many well-meaning, but technologically challenged people to claim Bitcoin was the currency of the anti-Christ. The dreaded “one world currency” that would usher in the reign of Lucifer. These opinions were almost always based on ignorance, and it led to decent people who care about freedom to dismiss Bitcoin.

In contrast, the real status quo was able to see Bitcoin and understand the threat it posed to the control system. Now IBM is working on a solution for Central Banks, and if this takes hold, it could be very, vey bad for liberty. From Reuters:

(Reuters) – International Business Machines Corp is considering adopting the underlying technology behind bitcoin, known as the “blockchain,” to create a digital cash and payment system for major currencies, according to a person familiar with the matter. The objective is to allow people to transfer cash or make payments instantaneously using this technology without a bank or clearing party involved, saving on transaction costs, the person said. The transactions would be in an open ledger of a specific country’s currency such as the dollar or euro, said the source, who declined to be identified because of a lack of authorization to discuss the project in public. “When somebody wants to transact in the system, instead of you trying to acquire a bitcoin, you simply say, here are some U.S. dollars,” the source said. “It’s sort of a bitcoin but without the bitcoin.” The company has been in informal discussions about a blockchain-tied cash system with a number of central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, the source said. If central banks approve the concept, IBM will build the secure and scalable infrastructure for the project. The project is still in the early stages and constantly evolving, the source said. It is also unclear how concerns about money-laundering and criminal activities that have hamstrung bitcoin. Unlike bitcoin, where the network is decentralized and there is no overseer, the proposed digital currency system would be controlled by central banks, the source said. “These coins will be part of the money supply,” the source said. “It’s the same money, just not a dollar bill with a serial number on it, but a token that sits on this blockchain.” “We are at a tipping point right now. It’s making a lot more sense for some type of digital cash in the system, that not only saves our government money, but also is a lot more convenient and secure for individuals to use,” the source said.

I ask all those who have remained on the sidelines or skeptical of Bitcoin to read the above and think about it deeply. Bitcoin doesn’t lead to your biggest fears, but the project IBM is working on very well may. The Bitcoin community needs your support so that the ecosystem can become advanced enough and sufficiently adopted so that schemes like the one planned at IBM cannot compete. While the internet isn’t perfect, it is relatively free and decentralized compared to what it could have been. The same can be true for digital currencies.

Do you want a decentralized, dynamic, free market system controlled by no one, or do you want a centralized, banker controlled, closed and potentially totalitarian currency system? The real battle has now begun.

For related articles, see:

Bitcoin: A Way to Fight Back Against the Financial Terrorists?

Video of the Day – Hologram Julian Assange Talks George Orwell, Bitcoin and Preserving Human History

As Wall Street Looks to Copy Bitcoin, The Department of Defense Studies it as a “Terrorist Threat”

In Liberty,

Michael Krieger



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