The Trump Administration's Ban on Central Bank Digital Currency

Since Donald Trump occupied the Oval Office for the second time on January 20th, 2025, he has signed a significant number of Executive Orders covering a very wide range of issues.  As someone who has been following the development of digital currencies for many years, one Executive Order that caught my eye was "Strengthening American Leadership in Digital Financial Technology" which was signed on January 25th, 2025:

Inside this executive order, we find this under section 1 (v) (my bolds throughout):

 

"...taking measures to protect Americans from the risks of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which threaten the stability of the financial system, individual privacy, and the sovereignty of the United States, including by prohibiting the establishment, issuance, circulation, and use of a CBDC within the jurisdiction of the United States."

 

The Executive Order defines Central Bank Digital Currencies as "a form of digital money or monetary value, denominated in the national unit of account, that is a direct liability of the central bank."

 

In Section 5, we find this:

 

"a)  Except to the extent required by law, agencies are hereby prohibited from undertaking any action to establish, issue, or promote CBDCs within the jurisdiction of the United States or abroad.

 

(b)  Except to the extent required by law, any ongoing plans or initiatives at any agency related to the creation of a CBDC within the jurisdiction of the United States shall be immediately terminated, and no further actions may be taken to develop or implement such plans or initiatives."

 

It is important to note that the Federal Reserve is not an agency of the United States federal government and that it exists because of an act of Congress. According to the Fed, it 

"...enjoys a unique public/private structure that operates within the government, but is still relatively independent of government to isolate the Fed from day-to-day political pressures in fulfilling its varying roles. As stated in The Federal Reserve System Purposes & Functions:

The Federal Reserve System is considered to be an independent central bank. It is so, however, only in the sense that its decisions do not have to be ratified by the President or anyone else in the executive branch of the government. The entire System is subject to oversight by the U.S. Congress….the Federal Reserve must work within the framework of the overall objectives of economic and financial policy established by the government."

  

While this particular Executive Order isn't as attention-grabbing as the Executive Orders that covered issues like America's withdrawal from the World Health Organization and ending DEI programs, to those of us that have been paying attention to the unceasing movement toward global adoption of central bank digital currencies, this could be a game-changer.  In my opinion and in light of this development, there could be one of two scenarios that play out:

 

1.) with the American economy being the largest economy in the world, Washington's ban on central bank digital currencies could slow up adoption of CBDCs by other economies.

 

2.) the creation of a crisis in the world's financial markets which could be used to negate the Trump Administration's ban on CBDCs, all in the name of rescuing the global economy.

 

In any case and until proven otherwise, I think that the Trump Administration's ban on CBDCs has done all of us a great (and perhaps temporary favour) by preventing the world's most influential central bank from issuing a Central Bank Digital Currency within the jurisdiction of the world's largest economy.  You can just imagine central bankers' heads exploding all over the world thanks to this development.

The Bank of England and the Digital Pound - The Next Phase of the Development of a U.K. CBDC

 The Bank of England recently announced that it was ending the "consultation and response phase" of the United Kingdom's central bank digital currency plans and was beginning its "design phase". 

Here is a screen capture showing the pertinent section of the latest progress update for the Bank of England's CBDC or, as they term it, digital pound:

 

The Bank claims that the digital pound will complement physical banknotes and that it "could offer households and businesses another way to make and receive payments, in step with an increasingly digital economy."  The digital pound would be:

 

"...seamlessly exchangeable with cash and bank deposits, ensuring the continuity of a trusted, uniform and accessible means of payment. As a publicly provided platform, it could foster innovation by enabling a varied range of private sector firms to develop innovative and user-friendly services."

  

The Bank has set four outcomes that it desires in the retail payments sector as follows:

 

"Outcome 1: Singleness of money

 

a.) the design, operation and supervision of retail payment systems must support confidence in the one-for-one exchange between central bank money and private money – whether commercial bank money or stablecoins. Put another way, all different forms of money must be exchangeable with each other at par value and at all times.

 

Outcome 2: Innovation

 

a.) The retail payments ecosystem and the regulatory environment must support safe and sustainable innovation in payments, consistent with the UK retaining its place within a competitive global financial system while also reducing the potential for disruption.

b.) Retail payment methods must be responsive to consumer choice and needs. They should be quick, easy, secure, cost effective and widely available to support financial inclusion.

 

c.) This should include access to a diverse landscape such that there are alternative forms of payment to those currently in existence (such as credit and debit cards), including the ability to make account-to-account payments to businesses at the point of sale in a broad range of use cases.

Outcome 3: Resilience of infrastructure and the wider ecosystem

a.) There must be end-to-end resilience across the payments chain for retail payments. This includes the need for agile risk management frameworks that enable providers to respond to emerging threats.

 

b.) Policymakers must also have the tools to address single points of failure arising from concentration in service provision at critical points in the chain, for instance through expanding the Bank of England’s regulatory payments perimeter.

Outcome 4: Effective governance and funding

 

a.) Payment systems must have governance frameworks that reflect the views of direct and indirect users of the infrastructure and enable effective supervision.

 

b.) Regulations and financial market infrastructure rulebooks must keep pace with a changing consumer landscape to maintain public confidence in payment systems. This includes tackling authorised push payment (APP) scams through better prevention and detection as well as appropriate consumer protection arrangements.

 

c.) Infrastructure providers must have sustainable and coherent funding and revenue models to ensure they can invest in their resilience and modernisation."

 

Under the National Payments Vision which was announced in October 2024, the government wants to "...achieve a trusted, world-leading payments ecosystem delivered on next generation technology, where consumers and businesses have a choice of payment methods to meet their needs" and that this payments ecosystem is "a critical underpinning to the government's central growth mission and its ambition to deliver world-leading rates of GDP growth".  Note the word "choice"; you'll have a choice of payment methods until they decide that you don't.

  

In closing, let's pick out the most pertinent section of the update with my bolds:

 

"No decision has been made on whether to proceed with a digital pound. After completing the design phase over the next couple of years, including taking account of developments in the wider payments landscape, the Bank and Government will assess the policy case for a digital pound and determine whether or not to proceed. A digital pound would only be introduced with Parliament’s approval, requiring primary legislation. This legislation would safeguard users’ privacy, guaranteeing that neither the Bank nor the Government could access users’ personal information nor control how households and businesses use their money. Further public consultation would precede the introduction of primary legislation by the Government."

 

With 134 nations proceeding with the movement toward a CBDC according to the Atlantic Council's CBDC Tracker as shown here:

 

...it's just a matter of time before the Bank of England launches a full-fledged CBDC ecosystem no matter what they are telling a reluctant public now.  The idea that a CBDC will be used alongside physical banknotes is just a way to lull consumers into an eventual full-fledged CBDC ecosystem in which cash is no longer used.  I cannot imagine a situation where Parliament would act against the will of the Bank, particularly given that the U.K. government has already taken the important pre-step of announcing the launching a digital ID mobile app aka GOV.UK.Wallet which will be available in mid-2025 as shown here:

 

Mark Carney - The Globalists' Globalist

In part one of this two part posting, we looked at Mark Carney - The Globalist Environmentalist.  In part two, we'll take a look at this influential individual and his connections to the global elite and how he most definitely is not "one of us" and has absolutely no understanding of what the unwashed masses face no matter what he may proclaim.   While you are reading this posting, you should know that Carney has announced that he was withdrawn from all of his corporate and organizational leadership positions because he is now all about becoming Canada's Prime Minister, however, should he lose the race to leadership, one still does have to wonder how long it will be before his name once again appears on the boards of these or other organizations.

1.) The World Economic Forum - The World Economic Forum, created and led by Klaus Schwab and architect of the Great Reset and the dystopian "It's 2030, I don't own anything and I'm happy" mantra, defines itself as follows:

"(The World Economic Forum) serves the needs of the international community by providing a platform for advancing systemic improvements in cooperation and governance through the engagement of multiple stakeholders, industries, technologies, regions and intellectual disciplines. The Forum’s vision and role are uniquely suited to these fast-moving and complex times, requiring agility, engagement and support from leading stakeholders from all walks of life, the creative application of interdisciplinary skill and a high-performance team."

Mark Carney was one of 31 members of the WEF's Board of Trustees as shown here:

...and here:

While he no longer appears as a member of WEF's Board of Trustees, he is still listed on the group's website as an "Agenda Contributor":

2.) The Group of Thirty (G30): G30 describes itself as follows:

"The Group of Thirty, established in 1978, is an independent global body comprised of economic and financial leaders from the public and private sectors and academia. It aims to deepen understanding of global economic and financial issues, and to explore the international repercussions of decisions taken in the public and private sectors. The Group is characterized by the extensive experience of its members and open-minded, forward thinking."

The Group has 31 members in addition to 8 senior members and 17 emeritus members who held leaderships positions in the public and private sectors as well as academia.  Currently, the G30 has six leaders within the central banking community and several others who became members while they were central bankers.  Thirty-four of G30's members formerly held senior positions in central banking of which 28 served as central bankers while a G30 member.  

 

Mark Carney is one of G30's current members as shown here:

...and here:

3.) Bank for International Settlements (BIS) - BIS is known as the central bank of central banks.  Its mission is to "support central banks' pursuit of monetary and financial satiety through international cooperation and to act as a bank for  central banks."

 

While Mark Carney is not currently a member of BIS, in the past, he has given a substantial number of speeches that are found on the organization's website as shown here:

He also served as Chairman of the Bank for International Settlements Committee on the Global Financial System (CGFS) from July 2010 to January 2012 as shown here:

4.) The Council for Inclusive Capitalism with the Vatican - The "Council" is "a historic new partnership between some of the world's largest investment and business leaders and the Vatican, launched today. It signifies the urgency of joining moral and market imperatives to reform capitalism into a powerful force for the good of humanity. Under the moral guidance of His Holiness Pope Francis and His Eminence Cardinal Peter Turkson, who leads the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development at the Vatican, and inspired by the moral imperative of all faiths, the Council invites companies of all sizes to harness the potential of the private sector to build a fairer, more inclusive, and sustainable economic foundation for the world.".  The Council is led by a core group of global leaders who are known as "Guardians for Inclusive Capitalism". They meet annually with Pope Francis and Cardinal Turkson.  Mark Carney is one of the "Guardians/Stewards" or Council Members as shown here:

 

...and here:

...and here from the original announcement of the formation of the Council where he is part of the group then called "Guardians":

 

Now, let's look at four additional bonus Carney connections:

 

5.) Brookfield Asset Management - Brookfield Asset management is, in their words:

 

"...a leading global alternative asset manager with over $600 billion of assets under management across real estate, infrastructure, renewable power, private equity and credit. Our objective is to generate attractive long-term risk-adjusted returns for the benefit of our clients and shareholders.

We manage a range of public and private investment products and services for institutional and retail clients. We earn asset management income for doing so and align our interests with our clients by investing alongside them. We have an exceptionally strong balance sheet, with approximately $59 billion of capital invested, primarily in our listed affiliates: Brookfield Property Partners, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners, Brookfield Renewable Partners and Brookfield Business Partners. This access to large-scale capital enables us to make investments in sizeable, premier assets and businesses across geographies and asset classes that few managers are able to do."

Mark Carney is one of Brookfield's directors as shown here:

Given Carney's position as the United Nation's climate change czar, it is interesting to note that Brookfield has significant investments in hydrocarbon businesses as shown here:

...and here:

While Brookfield has pledged to support the goal of net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, there is absolutely no guarantee that this target will be met.  The company also has significant greenhouse gas emissions from business air travel which have grown substantially on both a year-over-year basis between 2022 and 2023 and since the 2019 base year as shown here:

6.) Stripe - Carney is a member of the board for Stripe, a global digital payments company building infrastructure for the internet as shown here:

Given Carney's penchant for Central Bank Digital Currencies, this directorship really shouldn't surprise anyone since Stripe's mission is "to increase the GDP of the internet".

7.) Carney is the Chair of the Advisory Board for Canada 2020, a "leading, independent, progressive think tank" founded in 2020 as shown here:

 

8.) While he is not part of the organization's "management team", in June 2024, Carney was a featured speaker at the Century Initiative's "Building for Growth - Housing and infrastructure for an expanding nation" event:

The Century Initiative proposes that Canada needs to have a population of 100 million people by 2100:

....despite the fact that Canadians are already suffering from shortages of housing that is severely unaffordable thanks to a broken immigration system under the Trudeau government that has seen Canada's population surge over the past four years and a health care system that is on life support.  Obviously, Mr. Carney's appearance at one of their events suggests that he believes in this vision of Canada.

I would have to imagine that there is significant air travel and resulting greenhouse gas emissions associated with all of Mr. Carney's commitments to the leadership of these organizations and corporations.  One would not be far from wrong if they thought that this was yet another example of "rules for thee but not for me" when it comes to the globalist ecosystem.

From these two postings on Mark Carney, I hope that you have learned quite a bit about one of the members global ruling class.  Canadians must ask themselves whether this slick globalist bankster is actually interested in improving their lives or even has a basic understanding of what it is like to be a Canadian today given that he has spent substantial time overseas over the past decade and a half.    With his position as climate czar for the United Nations, his links to some of the world's most influential NGOs as well, his links to the world's central banking system, we can be certain that his agenda will see the light of day if the global technocracy gets their way.  

With Carney's penchant for central banking and the environment, it is my proposition that, under a Prime Minister Carney, Canadians could well find themselves as the advanced economy's lab rats for programmable central bank digital currencies linked to their carbon footprint. 

Mark Carney - The Globalist Environmentalist

I have posted on the subject of Mark Carney, the self-proclaimed environmentalist in a previous posting but with Carney now thinking that he stands a good chance of becoming Canada's Prime Minister after declaring himself a candidate for leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, I thought that the time was perfect to revisit his connections to the global elite in a two part posting.  In part one, we will look at how a central banker morphed into a banking environmental evangelist followed by a posting which looks at his significant connections to the global ruling class.  

As the former Governor of the Bank of Canada and the Bank of England, two of the world's most influential advanced economy central banks, Mr. Carney is obviously a leading figure in the world of central banksters.  As though that weren't enough, this darling of the global ruling class is also doing his best to influence the global response to climate change, often through the lens of the banking system which is quite familiar to economist Carney.

 

Let's start with this announcement from the United Nations, soon to be the world's sole parliamentary body if they have their way with the rest of us, dated December 1, 2019:

 

From the information that is available online, it would appear that while Mr. Carney has extensive experience in the field of finance, he has limited or no formal training in environmentalism, climatology, chemistry, physics or any of the sciences that are involved in formulating an educated response to impacting the world's climate, however, like his ruling class peer, Mr. Bill Gates who just happens to be the world's foremost expert on epidemiology, vaccinology and human health in general, one should never let a lack of training get in the way of forcing your ideas on the rest of humanity.

 

Here's what I could find regarding his qualifications:

 

Since his retirement from the heady and cloistered world of central banking at the end of 2019, Carney now happens to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Nature Conservancy of Canada, a Canadian non-profit conservation organization.  One would think that this would give him ample opportunity to flaunt his environmental and science credentials, however, such is not the case as shown here:

 

 

With that background behind us, let's look at some interesting comments that were made by Mark Carney during his tenure as climate "czar" for the United Nations.  Here is an interview of the Special Envoy that appears on the United Nations website dated January 2021:

 

Here is the first question:

 

"You have said that the goal of net zero is the greatest commercial opportunity of our time. Why?"

 

And, here's his answer with my bolds for emphasis throughout:

 

Climate change is an existential threat. We all recognize that, and there’s increasing urgency around it. But the converse is, if you are making investments, coming up with new technologies, changing the way you do business, all in service of reducing and eliminating that threat, you are creating value. And what we have seen increasingly, spurred initially by the Sustainable Development Goals, accelerated by Paris, and then by social movements and governments, is societies putting tremendous value on achieving net zero. Companies, and those who invest in them and lend to them, and who are part of the solution, will be rewarded. Those who are lagging behind and are still part of the problem will be punished.

  

How these companies and investors will be punished, he does not say, but it is a rather threatening statement given his stature in the world of finance.

 

Here is another question:

 

"Why is mandatory carbon disclosure by large companies so important?

 

Here's his response:

 

"We all know that what gets measured gets managed. Climate change is not yet consistently measured, although the private sector has moved in this direction since Paris. We now need to make measurement and disclosure mandatory. That’s a priority of the UN COP26 climate conference in Glasgow at the end of this year."

 

And, the follow-up question:

 

"How do small companies figure in this?"

 

And again, his answer:

 

"If I’m running a company committed to net zero, what does that mean? It’s not just disclosing and managing the emissions in producing my product. It’s also the emissions involved in the energy I use, and the emissions all the way through my value chain, in other words, the emissions of my suppliers, many of whom are small businesses, as well as the emissions from people using a product. That company becomes responsible for disclosing all of those, and it has an incentive to manage all of those down. So it has an incentive to work with small businesses or choose those working towards lower emissions. 

 

If multinational companies focus on their emissions all the way across their value chain, many parts of which are based in developing countries, they have an incentive to invest and help reduce emissions there as well. It is quite powerful. That’s how emissions reductions can be pulled through economies and across the world."

 

So, in other words, even small companies will be expected to calculate and disclose their carbon footprint, an issue that will prove to be extremely expensive for very small family-run businesses who supply goods and services to megacorporations.  On the upside, firms that provide the necessary services to calculate the carbon footprint of these companies will be rubbing their hands together with glee at the very thought of the massive revenues that will be generated.

 

Let's close with this advice from a central banker on how we can all get involved in the global climate agenda, albeit, not at his level since he is far more important that we can ever hope to be:

 

"We all have a role in this adjustment. One of the most basic roles we have as individuals is asking questions. The bank that has our money, what’s their position on climate change? How well are they managing relative to net zero? If they give an answer you don’t like, you can move your money to an institutions that is part of the solution. 

 

One other thing, I’m not a politician. But I’ve worked around them many times, and when constituents ask questions it is very powerful. It tells politicians what people care about. Don’t assume that your politician cares about this issue as much as you do. But they will the more you and others raise it with them. And now is the time, because climate is becoming a mainstream issue, and a lot of big decisions are being taken."

Since we appear to be heading toward a cashless society funded by a universal basic income and a central bank digital currency ecosystem, the point about moving your money to another bank may prove to be moot.

 

I do agree - a lot of big decisions are being taken, unfortunately, the climate decisions being made by governments on our behalf are, at best, first order thinking where the ultimate impact of the decision is not considered (i.e. forcing us into electric vehicles but not considering where the electricity is sourced, where the plastic to make the vehicle is sourced and how the vehicles and the lithium batteries that power them will be managed once the batteries reach the end of their life cycle).

 

Should you happen to be interested in the entire interview, here it is:

 

In 2020, Carney was appointed by then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to be the finance advisor to the United Kingdom presidency of the COP26 United Nations Climate Change conference which was held in Glasgow Scotland in November 2021 as shown here:

 

In November 2021 at COP26, Carney also assembled the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ), a group of bankers, insurers and investors who have committed to put climate change at the centre of their work as shown here:

 

...and here:

 

 

Here is a quote from his speech which gives us a good idea of his mindset, keeping in mind that he views Net Zero as "the critical infrastructure of the new financial system":

 

"It is about client focus, going to where the emissions are to help get them down. So, companies that have plans in place to reduce the emissions, will find the capital, those who don’t won’t. So highly recommend getting those plans in place.”

 

Once again, doesn't that sound like a banking threat to companies that don't have plans in place to reduce their emissions as Mr. Carney and his globalist partners demand?  He certainly tries to come across as a "banking tough guy", doesn't he?

While Mr. Carney's pontifications sound relatively reasonable, let's take a brief but only partial look at his personal impact on the climate.  Thanks to the Bank of England, here is a copy of Mark Carney's expenses for the period from January to December 2019, noting in particular the number of flights that he took:

 

 

In 2019, Mr. Carney took 26 flights (in business class) on official business for the Bank of England to various destinations around the globe, travelling as far as San Francisco.  In addition, there were 11 rail trips within Europe.  This does not include trips that were paid for by other parties on his behalf.  I dare say, that's quite a substantial carbon footprint, isn't it?  But then again, it's "rules for thee but not for me", isn't it?

As a bit of an aside, battling climate change is predominant in the Carney family.  Here is a screen capture from the website of the Eurasia Group, a Canadian policy institute which just happens to employ Mark Carney's wife who also touts herself as an expert on global climate and energy policy even though her Master's degrees are in agricultural economics and international relations:

  

Let's summarize.  As you can see, Mark Carney is another of the global elite who preaches what he does not practice.  It's quite easy for the ruling class to tell us what to do regarding cutting back on our personal greenhouse gas emissions; it is quite another thing for the oligarchs who live by a totally different set of rules that benefits them commercially or personally.  With Mark Carney's growing influence in the global environmental/financial movement, you can be certain that you will hear from him or about him as time passes, particularly if he should happen to occupy the office of the Prime Minister of Canada which would prove to be a nightmare for Canada's economically important oil and natural gas sector and Canadians who are hoping to see the end of the punitive carbon tax.  

In part 2 of this posting, I will take a look at Mark Carney's current and previous connections to various ruling class organizations, some of which have plans in place for global domination.