{"id":14780,"date":"2020-02-24T22:22:33","date_gmt":"2020-02-24T22:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mediashower.com\/blog\/?p=14780"},"modified":"2020-02-24T22:24:23","modified_gmt":"2020-02-24T22:24:23","slug":"here-comes-the-trump-digital-dollar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/here-comes-the-trump-digital-dollar\/","title":{"rendered":"Here Comes the Trump Digital Dollar"},"content":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Wall Street Journal\u00a0<\/em>ran an opinion piece this week that was huge. We\u2019re about to make it\u00a0yuge<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Entitled\u00a0We Sent a Man to the Moon. We Can Send the Dollar to Cyberspace<\/a>, the piece was written by two leaders of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission,\u00a0Christopher Giancarlo<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Daniel Gorfine<\/a>, where they make the case for a blockchain-based \u201cdigital dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the 1950s, the United States was growing complacent about its technology capabilities, until the Soviet Union launched the first successful satellite,\u00a0Sputnik 1.<\/em>\u00a0The Soviets followed this achievement with the first man in space (Yuri Gagarin, 1961), the first woman in space (Valentina Tereshkova, 1963), and numerous space \u201cfirsts.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was a wake-up call. The U.S. realized it was falling behind, and thus began the great \u201cSpace Race,\u201d which culminated in the first successful moon landing with\u00a0Apollo 11\u00a0<\/em>on\u00a0<\/em>July 20, 1969. (If we\u2019re going to have conflict between nations, by the way, let it be over who can make the fastest progress toward some greater goal.)<\/p>\n

In their opinion piece, Giancarlo and Gorfine argue that the United States is once again in danger of being left behind, as other countries (such as China) and companies (such as Facebook) take the lead in developing their own digital currencies.\u00a0This threatens the U.S. dollar<\/em>, and that is hugely\u00a0(yugely)<\/em>\u00a0significant.<\/p>\n

For a host of reasons, the United States enjoys all kinds of advantages when the dollar is the \u201cinternational currency of choice.\u201d It means that everyone wants your money. It allows you to maintain stable prices for food and energy. It allows you to influence the global financial system.<\/p>\n

They are right: if the government doesn\u2019t create its own blockchain-based digital currency, then private businesses will (in fact,\u00a0they already have<\/a>). In other words, a Digital Dollar is inevitable, and we are entering a new kind of \u201cSpace Race\u201d around money. (We\u2019ll call it the \u201cCash Clash.\u201d)<\/p>\n

While their op-ed was a little light on details (hey, it\u2019s the\u00a0Wall Street Journal<\/em>, not\u00a0Bitcoin Market Journal<\/em>), let\u2019s flesh out the details of how a U.S.-backed, blockchain-based Digital Dollar might actually work.<\/p>\n

How to Build a Digital Dollar<\/h2>\n


\n\"Computer<\/center>The authors propose a \u201cgovernment-sanctioned blockchain protocol<\/strong>.\u201d To be clear, this will likely be a blockchain application built on top of an existing blockchain platform. For the platform choice, the government will realistically have three options: Hyperledger, Ethereum, or build-your-own.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll likely choose Hyperledger, because it is backed by a consortium of American technology leaders, including industry heavyweights like IBM, Intel, and Cisco, which have a long history of government consulting. (Ethereum is still not ready for prime time, and build-your-own will end-in-tears.)<\/p>\n

The authors also propose an\u00a0independent nongovernmental group\u00a0<\/strong>that\u2019s administered by\u00a0trusted banks and payment providers<\/strong>. In plain English, they likely mean the project is \u201cdecentralized\u201d by creating a consortium (like Hyperledger), with buy-in from \u201ccentralized\u201d financial companies like J.P. Morgan, State Street, and SWIFT (who are also part of Hyperledger).<\/p>\n

To be clear, Hyperledger is a blockchain\u00a0platform<\/em>, and what the authors are proposing is a blockchain\u00a0application<\/em>. Think of it like a cryptocurrency built on top of Ethereum, except it\u2019s a government-sanctioned currency built on top of Hyperledger.<\/p>\n

To build trust in the Digital Dollar, the authors continue, it will need to be\u00a0backed by real U.S. dollars<\/strong>: the full faith and trust of the federal government. Physical dollars can be \u201ccashed in\u201d for digital dollars,\u00a0at no charge<\/em>\u00a0(that\u2019s important), and held in a digital wallet on your smartphone.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s paint a picture of what this would look like. You\u2019d go to your bank or ATM to withdraw $100, but now that money goes into a digital wallet on your smartphone. You go to the local hipster hangout and buy a pumpkin spice oxygen shot, then pay for it with the Digital Dollars in your wallet.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s essentially what happens now when you pay for things with a credit card or Venmo, with one huge difference: those are private companies. They all get a cut of each transaction. By making the Digital Dollar frictionless \u2014 by not charging a fee, like paying with cash \u2014 the government will own the currency\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0the rails.<\/p>\n

By being first to innovate in this space, the U.S. will continue to ensure that the dollar remains the international currency of choice. If the U.S. lags behind, some other country (or company) will take this spot. This is common sense.<\/p>\n

This is why the government is hating on\u00a0Facebook\u2019s Libra project<\/a>. They understand that projects like Libra threaten the primacy of the U.S. dollar, but they don\u2019t know what to do about it. The answer is simple:\u00a0develop the Digital Dollar<\/em>.<\/p>\n

How to Make this Happen<\/h2>\n


\n\"US<\/center>These groundbreaking authors outlined the vision, but now I\u2019m going to go one step further: I\u2019m going to reveal how to make this happen immediately.<\/p>\n

The biggest problem comes from the top: how do you sell the Digital Dollar into Trump, who has so far been skeptical of cryptocurrencies, and who quite frankly has other things to worry about right now?<\/p>\n

Very simple: you put his name on it.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right. The Trump Digital Dollar would be a currency minted for a sitting U.S. President, just like George Washington, or a Roman Emperor. Think about what this would mean for the Trump brand: to have his name on United States\u00a0money?<\/em>\u00a0That bill will get passed tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Just like they called it \u201cObamacare,\u201d they\u2019ll start calling them \u201cTrumpbucks\u201d or \u201cTrumpbacks.\u201d Possibly \u201cThe Donald Dollar.\u201d He\u2019ll tweet about this nonstop. Overnight, the entire cryptocurrency market will explode. So will the heads of blockchain purists, who will not accept that this is really happening.<\/p>\n


\n\"\"<\/center>\u201cA centralized decentralized cryptocurrency?\u201d they will exclaim, clutching their glasses in dismay. Meanwhile, every other country will rush to create their own digital currencies, igniting the industry and creating thousands, maybe\u00a0millions<\/em>, of new blockchain jobs.<\/p>\n

Many won\u2019t like this idea \u2014 and I\u2019m reluctant to even share it, as putting it out there is likely to make it come true. But what\u2019s worse, waiting for our government to stop nervously nibbling its nails, shivering on the sidelines, afraid to make a move on digital money? Or the Trump Digital Dollar?<\/p>\n

The Trump Digital Dollar will be like jet fuel on a bonfire. Let\u2019s be honest: that\u2019s what the President does best. And one thing is for sure: if you thought the Space Race was heated, wait until you see the Cash Clash.<\/p>\n

Sign up here<\/em><\/a>\u00a0to get more blockchain intelligence and insight in our free weekly newsletter.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The\u00a0Wall Street Journal\u00a0ran an opinion piece this week that was huge. We\u2019re about to make it\u00a0yuge. Entitled\u00a0We Sent a Man to the Moon. We Can Send the Dollar to Cyberspace, the piece was written by two leaders of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission,\u00a0Christopher Giancarlo\u00a0and\u00a0Daniel Gorfine, where they make the case for a blockchain-based \u201cdigital… Read More…<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[459],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14780"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14780"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14784,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14780\/revisions\/14784"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mediashower.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}