Joshua Henslee covers implications of CBDCs and inflation in latest video

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Joshua Henslee is back with another video, which is a little different from his usual BSV-centric takes. It covers the larger implications of digital currencies, CBDCs, inflation, and much more. Watch it here or read the summary below.

On rampant inflation and market conditions

Henslee begins by noting that this isn’t a BSV-specific video. It’s more of a general video discussing digital currencies and current global market conditions.

He notes how, thanks in part to the situation of the last two years and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, inflation is running wild. Gas prices have jumped significantly, and Henslee himself has seen a severe increase in his grocery prices. This is something most people will instantly recognize in their own lives. 

Henslee also notes that gold has done what it’s supposed to do; repriced higher against inflationary currencies. This has also led to speculation on collectibles and has spilled over into the digital currency industry, too. It’s all a result of increased amounts of fiat currency chasing fewer goods and services. Henslee believes that this will continue and get a lot worse before it gets better.

What might happen next? To fight inflation, the Federal Reserve and other central banks will have to raise rates. According to Henslee, this will lead to carnage in the stock markets and especially the digital currency markets as people withdraw from coins like BTC and ETH and get risk-free money in bank accounts and safer investments.

CBDCs and their potential dystopian implications

Henslee then discusses CBDCs or central bank digital currencies. He notes how BSVers are split on this, some are for them, and some are against them. He is against them and doesn’t like the implications of a government-run digital currency system.

Henslee notes how the situation during the last few years has caused people to rely on services like Amazon and other delivery services more. This has sped up the move away from cash as people have become used to paying for things with digital money. He fears that this, along with the CBDC system, will have dystopian consequences. Amazon and other retailers could refuse service in the same way that Twitter bans accounts based on politics and speech it doesn’t agree with.

This situation could also lead to the end of commercial banks. Governments have already shown that they can directly inject money into the economy via checks, so it’s not difficult to imagine a world where they simply use an app to bypass commercial banks altogether.

Bitcoin is freedom

However, despite all of this disruption and the potentially frightening consequences, Henslee believes that Bitcoin will ensure freedom, liberty, and a degree of privacy for all who choose to use it.

While certain influential players have already tried to kill Bitcoin and make it irrelevant as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, they have failed. Bitcoin is back as BSV, and this time it will succeed. To give one example of how Bitcoin can help ensure privacy, fan out UTXOs due to incredibly low fees make it possible to hold and spend small amounts of digital cash without the requirement for identity to be linked to wallets.

“What do we do about it? We build out Bitcoin,” Henslee says.

He also notes how many of the largest ‘crypto’ firms comply immediately with government demands despite their rhetoric to the contrary. He worries about where this might lead regarding customer privacy and the ability to transact freely. He says that the main narrative of ‘crypto’ is absurd and that it could never be a solution to these issues. 

“You can’t solve this problem with 1MB blocks…the only use case is to sell for dollars,” Joshua says. He notes that without the fiat banking system, BTC would be completely worthless.

Watch: CoinGeek New York panel, Future of Digital Asset Trading & Financial Services