This is a summary of the op-ed “Adam Back Wants CBDCs Dead” by Leah Callon-Butler, published on CoinDesk on January 5, 2023.
Central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) are being trialed worldwide and marketed as a tool for financial inclusion. However, according to HashCash inventor and Blockstream founder Adam Back, that sentiment couldn’t be further from the truth. CBDCs, Back argues, go against everything Bitcoin stands for: privacy, decentralization, and individual sovereignty.
In her CoinDesk article, “Adam Back Wants CBDCs Dead,” Emfarsis director Leah Callon-Butler talked to Back, one of the most influential figures in Bitcoin, about why the rising adoption of CBDCs is a troubling trend that needs to be stopped. Back believes that CBDCs stand in direct opposition to what Bitcoin stands for from an ideological perspective. While Bitcoin aims to protect individual freedoms and seize control of financial markets away from states, CBDCs aim to utilize the revolutionary power of blockchain to maintain the status quo.
Despite how CBDCs have been marketed, Back believes they only exist as knee-jerk reactions to the popularity of decentralized digital currencies. He mentions Facebook’s Libra as a catalyst for the creation of CBDCs. If a corporation with a user base in the billions has the capacity to launch its own cash system, central banks lose their grip on the global financial system.
“Back is a cypherpunk continuing to execute on the master plan to ensure that Bitcoin is rolled out exactly as Satoshi intended: as a decentralized, trustless, and censorship-resistant monetary network. For him, this is more than just a battle between Bitcoin and CBDCs. It’s about freedom.”
In response to the looming threat of CBDCs, Back has doubled down on helping Bitcoin establish itself as the truly decentralized financial system it set out to be. For instance, Blockstream recently launched Jade Plus, a Bitcoin-only wallet designed with privacy and decentralization in mind. Blockstream has also expanded Bitcoin’s infrastructure to offer regulated Bitcoin-based financial products and is working on advancing Layer 2 solutions. Initiatives like this are how Back fights back. Bitcoin must be made as impervious as possible to the influence of traditional banks and centralized authorities.
However, Leah also points out growing concerns about state involvement in the Bitcoin ecosystem. In recent months, Bitcoin ETFs, the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, and institutional actors stockpiling Bitcoin have dominated crypto headlines. Regardless, Back remains confident that Bitcoin will stay true to its mission. For him, the increasing institutionalization of Bitcoin has only made it easier to opt in to the ecosystem.
Following the highly publicized collapses of FTX, Celsius, and other crypto companies in 2022, trust in centralized institutions has reached an all-time low. Bitcoin, as considered by cypherpunks like Back, remains crypto’s best shot at offering the world a decentralized, trustless, and censorship-resistant monetary network.
Read the full article here: “Adam Back Wants CBDCs Dead” by Leah Callon-Butler. Published February 12, 2025, on CoinDesk.