Get ready, Ukrainians, CBDC - central bank digital currency - will soon appear in our lives. Or, as it is called on the sidelines, "digital hryvnia". The NBU promises us a financial paradise with transparency, speed of payments and zero commissions. But something tells us: this will not be paradise, but another experiment that can make our cash look like a museum exhibit.
What is a CBDC?
Imagine a hryvnia, but not a paper one, but a digital one. Easy? Of course! You pay by phone, the transaction is processed in a flash, and no bank charges you fees. But there is one little thing here: your entire financial history becomes available to the NBU. Hello, total control!
Benefits are promised, but what will we get?
1. Transparency (read: financial disclosure)
Every penny you spend will be under the microscope of the state. Went to buy coffee - NBU knows. Decided to buy some bitcoins? Oh, and where did you get this money, friend?
2. Absence of corruption (yes, of course)
They say that the digital hryvnia will help fight corruption. But how to do it, if "corruptors" can simply use dollars or crypto? But ordinary citizens will feel all the "bonuses": if you want to transfer money to a relative in Poland - wait for permission.
3. Convenience (until the battery dies)
CBDC is beautiful right up to the moment when your phone doesn't work, or when the bank cuts off your access because your transactions are "suspicious". And what do you do then? You go back to the good old cash… but it's gone.
What awaits us in reality?
1. Total control
Don't like taxes or restrictions? Forget about freedom. With the digital hryvnia, all your purchases, transfers and savings are in the palm of the state's hands. Want to donate to an army or transfer funds to a crypto exchange? Ask permission from "big brother" first.
2. Financial isolation
When everything is digital, you no longer have a backup plan. The state can easily block your access to money for any fault: the wrong post on social networks or late payment of a fine.
3. Vulnerability to failures
Did the electricity go out? Are the servers down? Technical failure? And here you are standing at the cash register, and they tell you: "Your payment did not go through." How to derail it is a rhetorical question.
What should Ukrainians do?
Do not succumb to illusions. Digital hryvnia is convenient, but only if you are ready to give up your financial privacy. Combine: some hryvnias in your wallet, some crypto in your Ledger, and explore decentralized financial instruments. Otherwise, you'll wake up in a world where cash is history and digital control is reality.
As one wise man said: "Freedom is not something you are given, but something you protect." So think before it's too late.
