Joe Rogan And Post Malone Criticize U.S. Government CBDC Plans
The subject of central bank digital currencies has gained significant attention among Americans, prompting viewpoints from not only rappers, comedians, and presidential candidates but also from various quarters.
Podcaster and commentator Joe Rogan has criticized the idea of a digital dollar issued by the U.S. central bank, calling it “game over” for American residents.
The popular podcast Joe Rogan Experience included rapper Post Malone and a segment on the U.S. banking system on August 8 that briefly focused on the possibility of power abuses associated with CBDCs in the country.
Each episode of Joe Rogan’s podcast generally attracts over 11 million listeners. Post Malone, however, has 31 million followers across X and Instagram. It comes as debates around CBDCs have begun to enter American presidential races.
When asked for his thoughts on a CBDC, Rogan was blunt:
“No fucking way. No way. That’s what I think. I think that’s checkmate. That’s game over.”
Rogan described a scenario where a despotic government might link a CBDC’s cash flow to a person’s social credit score, stating that people could quickly lose access to their finances for disobeying the law.
“If they decide somehow or another that you need some social credit score system and it’s for the benefit of society, and they outline that, they can track your behavior and your tweets and all your things […] They just decided you fucked up, and the rules are the rules,” he said.
Malone also expressed concerns about the American banking system, noting that FDIC insurance only protects bank account assets up to $250,000 in the country.
The two also spoke about the contentious Canadian government decision to freeze the truckers’ “Freedom Convoy” bank accounts in February last year.
Malone stated that the U.S. government controls too much of how ordinary people’s money moves and that they can stop financing anyone suddenly.
It reflects arguments made by ardent proponents of decentralized cryptocurrency.
In the meantime, CBDCs have emerged as a political hot topic in the U.S. Ron DeSantis, a Republican presidential contender and governor of Florida, vowed in July that if elected president, he would outlaw CBDCs in the country.
On the other side of the political aisle, Democratic nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. blasted CBDCs as “control” tools and pledged to support the dollar with hard assets, such as Bitcoin BTC tickers down $29,516 if elected president.
