“CBDCs are not a power grab. They are an admission.” DNA Crypto.
Money has changed faster than states expected.
Not in ideology… In infrastructure.
– Value now moves in real time.
– Settlement is increasingly continuous.
– Liquidity no longer waits for office hours, borders, or clearing cycles.
This shift did not begin with CBDCs.
It began when private systems solved problems that public systems could not.
CBDCs exist because states are trying to catch up.
The Real Problem States Are Facing
States are not losing control of money.
They are losing relevance in the money movement.
Three failures are converging:
- – Payment speed lags private rails
- – Settlement visibility erodes as value moves off legacy systems
- – Monetary transmission weakens as money bypasses state-controlled infrastructure
Stablecoins, tokenised settlement systems, and on-chain liquidity solved these problems first. Quietly. Efficiently. Without permission.
DNACrypto has explored this reality in Stablecoins Are the Hidden Infrastructure of Modern Finance.
CBDCs are the state’s response to a world in which money no longer requires intermediaries to move.
CBDCs Are About Re-Anchoring Settlement
– CBDCs are not designed to replace cash.
– They are not designed to compete with Bitcoin.
– They are not designed to dominate private money.
They are designed to re-anchor the authority to settle.
Finality matters more than form.
This is why wholesale CBDCs matter far more than retail pilots. Interbank settlement, cross-border clearing, and institutional liquidity are where monetary relevance is decided.
– Retail CBDCs are political.
– Wholesale CBDCs are strategic.
This distinction is evident in Europe’s approach, as examined in CBDC Pilots in Europe and CBDCs and the Private Market.
Surveillance Is a Distraction From the Real Issue
Surveillance is not new.
– Banks already monitor transactions.
– Payment providers already log behaviour.
– Compliance frameworks already exist.
CBDCs do not invent visibility… They standardise it.
The genuine concern for states is not watching citizens.
It is losing sight of settlement flows entirely.
CBDCs are defensive infrastructure.
They are an attempt to ensure that, even in a programmable financial world, settlement still passes through a public anchor.
Stablecoins Are Not the Enemy. They Are the Benchmark.
This is where most CBDC analysis collapses.
CBDCs are not competing with Stablecoins… They are responding to them.
Stablecoins already dominate:
- – cross-border settlement
- – on-chain liquidity
- – tokenised asset markets
Under MiCA, Europe has effectively acknowledged this reality by choosing regulation over prohibition, as explored in Stablecoins After MiCA and Euro Stablecoins Under MiCA.
CBDCs will coexist with Stablecoins because the state cannot out-innovate private money.
And it does not need to.
It only needs to remain relevant.
Bitcoin Changes Nothing. And That’s the Point.
Bitcoin is not part of this race.
CBDCs do not weaken Bitcoin… They validate its existence.
States are building programmable money because money has become programmable.
Bitcoin remains:
- – non-sovereign
- – outside monetary policy
- – beyond state programmability
This relationship is clearly explored in CBDCs versus Bitcoin.
CBDCs are not a threat to Bitcoin.
They are evidence that Bitcoin was early.
The DNACrypto View
CBDCs are not dystopian.
They are historical.
Every monetary system adapts when relevance is threatened.
CBDCs are an attempt by states to:
- – re-anchor settlement
- – preserve monetary transmission
- – remain visible in a programmable financial world
Wholesale CBDCs will matter more than retail ones.
Stablecoins will continue to dominate private settlement.
Bitcoin will remain entirely outside the system.
The future is not one system winning.
It is layered money, layered settlement, and layered trust.
Those who understand this do not argue about ideology.
They build optionality.
That is where capital will go.
Image Source: Envato Stock
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax or investment advice.
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