Presentations
Cryptocurrency, Stablecoins, and CBDCs

21St Parliamentary Intelligence-Security Forum – Cryptocurrency, Stablecoins, and CBDCs

Erik Bethel

Distinguished Fellow, Chamber of Digital Commerce; former U.S. Representative to the World Bank

March 8, 2022

Guatemala City, Guatemala

Honorable Erik Bethel addressed the ongoing transition from physical currency to digital forms, emphasizing that future money will be entirely digital. Central banks worldwide, including those in Mexico and Guatemala, are developing digital versions of their sovereign currencies to preserve monetary sovereignty, facilitate rapid emergency payments, and promote financial inclusion. He underscored security and privacy concerns, noting that programmable digital money could be monitored by governments, as exemplified by China’s digital yuan, and that foreign technology could pose national security risks if utilized by other states or criminal networks. Bethel also discussed Bitcoin, highlighting its fixed supply of 21 million coins as anti-inflationary, but highly speculative, with its value driven by demand and susceptible to substantial volatility.

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