A Local Strategy to Fight CBDC's: Complimentary Currency
With the debate over CBDC's brewing, there are other strategic moves to ensure a strong counter effort to CBDC initiatives.
The strategies to counter any system normally surround one of the following three options: fight it, exit, or live in parallel.
With a Federal CBDC on it’s way, so far all three strategies are being implemented in some form. Florida’s now successfully passed Anti-CBDC bill is the most notable way to fight it. Countries like El Salvador offer a temporary escape for those who would like to exit completely.
Living in parallel means operating within the laws and borders of the current system, while still opting out of certain aspects of it. Buying and selling with Bitcoin is one of the ways in which you could do this.
However, there is an over looked strategy that will be a game changer upon its implementation: Bitcoin as a complimentary currency. Let me explain:
BerkShares
Berkshares Inc. is a non-profit that was founded in 2006 in the Berkshire region of Massachusetts (Elizabeth Warrens backyard). Berkshares is the regions local currency that is accepted by any bank and or local business in the area. Berkshares have an exchange rate with the dollar and are recognized as a complimentary currency.
A complementary currency is a currency or medium of exchange that is not necessarily a national currency, but that is thought of as supplementing or complementing national currencies.
A complimentary currency can be accepted and issued by any person, business, or government entity. A complimentary currency can be anything a community decides it to be.
Local Capture
So how might this look with a cryptocurrency or digital asset? It is no coincidence that Berkshares started as paper money, but as of 2021 issued a digital version through an application.
Any local group could create a non-profit just like Berkshares and issue a token based on their local community. There a lot of benefits to local currencies when it comes to keep capital in the local economy. (Miami Coin, if it had been done correctly, could have been a complimentary currency for the Miami region. Unfortunately, the team that built it got the economics wrong.)
However, such an organization could also decide that its complimentary currency is Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency. Such an organization could then begin officially onboarding banks, local businesses, and even local government organizations.
This parallel system would be the most efficient backup plan for when a CBDC is issued, and if it is not able to be stopped.
Conclusion
There are multiple ways to push forward with a mission, regardless of scale. From Presidential elections to Congressional lobbying, down to the more minute levels of county and city government, there are always ways to build the infrastructure to counter something you disagree with.
In this instance, there are local ways to counter a Central Back Digital Currency within our current laws and frame work. Setting up a local non-profit in order to begin using a complimentary currency is a great idea.
It is not hard, and is already being used by other localities in the United States. All you need is a solid community willing to try something different.