A group of people have started a campaign to alert the public about what it claims are the dangers of digital money.
The aim of the Cash is Freedom campaign is to raise public awareness about the UK Government and Bank of England proposals to bring in a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and claims that it is aiming to get rid of cash eventually.
A CBDC is a digital currency that is issued and controlled by the central bank, rather than by a commercial bank. The campaign believes that CBDC will mean the end of privacy and freedom for everyone.
Darren Nesbit, 51, is editor of the Light paper – a independently distributed newspaper which says it exposes corruption but which has also run claims that the Covid pandemic was a deception and campaigned against coronavirus vaccines.
He said: ”They will bring in CBDCs bit by bit. They started with cards in the 1960s and then came contactless payments, so they will move it as the next logical step. This is a prediction, there will be at some point in the next few years a great financial crisis and the banks will close.”
Mr Nesbit claimed: “If you look historically they manipulate or engineer a crisis. To sound less suspicious they simply say that a crisis happened and somehow always turn it into their advantage. Every time people end up with less freedom, fewer opportunities and most of the time less money.”
The campaign says that CBDCs will be brought in under the disguise of being safe, convenient and beneficial to society but this should be resisted by everyone who values freedom.
The Treasury and the Bank of England announced last month that they were consulting on a potential digital pound, or central bank digital currency.
Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, said: “As the world around us and the way we pay for things becomes more digitalised, the case for a digital pound in the future continues to grow. A digital pound would provide a new way to pay, help businesses, maintain trust in money and better protect financial stability.
“However, there are a number implications which our technical work will need to carefully consider. This consultation and the further work the Bank will now do will be the foundation for what would be a profound decision for the country on the way we use money.”
Matthew Moore, 19, a student from The University of Sheffield said: ”Cashless currency is really convenient but it is also good to have cash as it assigns a physical value to money. I prefer using a card to make payments but it is always good to have a balance.”
The Cash is Freedom group believes that using cash is a short term answer but that it is a slow and gradual process. It says: “Too many of us are sleepwalking into a nightmare digital prison, where the banks will have complete control over your spending.”
Erin Barton, 19, a student from The University of Sheffield said: “I do think cash is really important especially in the current cost of living crisis as they cannot spend more than what they have.”
Thea Naji, 19, a student said: ”As a student, digitised currency is more convenient to me but I believe a good balance is required and it is the people’s choice to choose which form of payment they would use.”
