Bitcoin Facing Darmanin

Slowly but surely, the authorities are preparing minds for the end of cash. Fortunately, there will always be bitcoin.

Hands Off the Money

Gérald Darmanin dared. The Minister of the Interior proposed to senators to abolish cash under the pretext of fighting drugs.

Cash is the main issue. How do we stop drugs? There is a fairly simple measure: the end of cash. Money must be traceable.

Gérald Darmanin

The media machine hastened to relay the information, suggesting that a world without cash is still dreamed of at very high levels.

CNEWS also joined in with its little collaboration, sweeping away with a simple gesture the absolutely essential concept of the right to privacy. Like a little Stasi officer, Pascal Praud argues in favor of mass surveillance.

“That we know I bought a bottle of water, some meat or an iPhone, I don’t care”, he slyly dropped. What to answer, if not the famous reply from Edward Snowden, the famous American whistleblower.

Saying your right to privacy doesn’t matter when you have nothing to hide is like saying freedom of speech doesn’t matter when you have nothing to say.

Edward Snowden

Unlike Mr. Praud, the French remain very attached to cash. According to a Banque de France study published this year, 60% of them consider it important to be able to pay in cash.

Let us also recall that merchants are legally obliged to accept cash payments. They even risk a fine of 150 euros in case of refusal.

Moreover, all Eurozone countries would need to be convinced. This will be very difficult knowing that Italians and Spaniards mostly pay in cash (60%).

Christine Lagarde at the Helm?

Faced with the outcry, Gérald Darmanin moderated his remarks a few days later, acknowledging that France did not have the political means to achieve this.

“There is obviously a long discussion to have with the French. Cash has other advantages, advantages of individual freedom where the state, indeed, does not watch everything all the time… It is a public debate that probably needs to be posed during a presidential campaign, for example”, he declared.

Who could carry such a project during the next presidential election? Probably Christine Lagarde. This is convenient since the ECB president has been pushing since her arrival at the ECB to launch a digital euro capable of replacing banknotes.

This ambition is worrying when recalling some of her past statements that cause pause. Here is an excerpt from one of her 2018 speeches:

What can you do if you want beer and pizza but don’t want your credit score to go down? You can pay in cash. Would you rather go for the broccoli aisle if it’s no longer possible to pay in cash? Could central banks come to the rescue by offering a fully anonymous digital currency? Certainly not. That would be a boon for criminals.

Christine Lagarde, speech Winds of Change: The Case for New Digital Currency

Always the crime excuse while they remain silent in the face of genocide in Palestine and sacrifice the Ukrainians on the altar of geopolitics.

Total control over money creates the temptation to ration spending, in case of war for example… Social credit, negative interest rates, and rationing are all excesses looming over us in a cashless society.

Bitcoin, the Glorious Escape

Christine Lagarde swears by all that she has no intention of making cash disappear. But who can trust someone who was supposed to succeed Klaus Schwab as head of the World Economic Forum.

How can you trust someone who describes bitcoin as an “escape”? An escape from what exactly? From a war that might go beyond Ukrainian borders?

Cash representing only 5% of the total money supply, it is indeed bitcoin that offers a real escape. It allows crossing a border with your entire fortune in mind. You just need to remember a dozen words (the seed).

Bitcoin also allows for protection against inflation! Of course, it will not replace the banking system, but it is a much better store of value than the euro, which has lost 38% of its value in just ten years. Meanwhile, bitcoin has gained more than 38% since the beginning of the year!

This is the result of an apparently mild inflation of 2-3% per year:

Of course, it should be reminded that the Lightning Network enables payments. It is now relatively easy to live by paying directly in bitcoins in major capitals.

In this regard, Senator Cynthia Lummis proposes to abolish capital gains tax for BTC payments under $600. In the Czech Republic, holding BTC for more than a year avoids any tax.

Christine Lagarde can well abolish cash, but there will always be bitcoin. Checkmate.

Don’t miss our article: Should You Buy Gold or Bitcoin?