Digital Currency And The Mark Of The Beast

In the last month, the S&P has dropped over 6% and late last week two banks, SVB and Signature collapsed. Four other regional banks are also in serious jeopardy. 

While the Treasury Department and the President are providing guaranteed backstops for bank deposit holders above the insured $250K threshold, according to Reuters, the Fed is expected to further raise interest rates 25 basis points next week, and again in May, in an attempt to curb inflation.

Governmental control of Digital currency (currently in its infancy), coupled with a dependable form of personal ID, would offer a universal method of transacting business. Of course, very few today would welcome the injection of an RFID chip in their hand, even though it has actually been in use in humans since 1998 and in animals before that.

Mark 13:37 And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.”

This podcast is based on original BCWorldview.org content. Some episodes are narrated using an AI-generated version of the author's own voice.

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Welcome to Biblical Christian Worldview's Selective Article Podcasts. So let's get started. Today's podcast is entitled Digital Currency and the Mark of the Beast. In the last month, the SP has dropped over 6%, and late last week, two banks, SVB and Signature, collapsed. Four other regional banks are also in serious jeopardy. While the Treasury Department and the President are providing guaranteed backstops for bank deposit holders above the insured $250,000 threshold, according to Reuters, the Fed is expected to further raise interest rates 25 basis points next week and again in May in an attempt to curb inflation. Interestingly, one year ago, an article came out in The Hill entitled, quote, Biden is planning a new digital currency. Here's why you should be very worried, unquote. Quoting from that article, President Biden has instructed the federal government and the Federal Reserve to lay the groundwork for a potential new U.S. currency, a digital dollar. If the United States were to adapt a digital currency like the one discussed in Biden's executive order, it would be one of the most dramatic expansions of federal power ever made, one that could put individuals and businesses in grave danger of losing their social and economic freedoms. A digital dollar would not merely be a digital version of the existing US dollar, but rather an entity or rather an entirely new currency that would at least at first exist alongside today's currency. Similar to cash, the CBDC or central bank digital currency would be used to pay for goods and services and would likely be managed by the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the United States. Unlike the current dollar, though, a central bank digital currency would not exist in physical form, meaning you wouldn't be able to go to a bank or ATM and withdraw it. More recently, Fox made Fox News made the point on air last night that our ability to weaponize the US dollar is causing the formation of other forms of trade currency. In particular, according to Barons, China has been pushing for the yen to become the international monetary exchange standard, and Russia has been trading using the yen in order to circumvent U.S. sanctions for quite some time. Other countries beginning to trade in the yen as payment for their goods and services include Saudi Arabia and India. I could go on, but the point is that the U.S. dollar is under attack on multiple fronts. Banks are having trouble dealing with rising interest rates. Inflation remains a threat, the solution of which is risking a recession later this year, and the dollar itself has lost value as the Treasury has had to print more and more to keep up with both Trump's and Biden's spending sprees. Behind all that are the Chinese pushing their currency to countries that are becoming more aligned with their rising power. Finally, there are multiple external issues, including issues related to countries such as North Korea, Taiwan, Ukraine, and Mexico, along with internal issues, including the border, inflation, recession, homelessness, lawlessness, and general divisiveness. Limiting this article or this podcast to our monetary policy above, the pressure to offer a digital currency is mounting quickly. It's true that cyber cash has gotten a bat a black eye with the recent drop in the price of Bitcoin and the recent demise of FTX. This trend is further aggravated by the banking failures mentioned earlier. Today's headlines include quote, digital currency group searches for a lifeline as SVB and crypto friendly banks collapse, which represents another cryptocurrency seeking new banking relationships, both the US, both in the U.S. and international, in an effort to stave off defaults. Interestingly, they are also meeting with Senate Banking Committee staff in an effort to enlist their help. So what about digital policy or currency policy tomorrow? If the expected solution to these unstable crypto companies is to take them out of the hands of independent exchanges run by individuals such as Sam Bankman Fried and put them under the protection of government oversight, perhaps that would solve the problem. And if over time we felt confident in the function of the digital system we could then switch to all electronic transactions for the efficiency and safety of everyone. Benefits would include the ability to monitor potentially illegal transactions, expedited central bank transaction processing and control, savings from the printing of paper and coin cash, efficient third party, meaning the government, adjudication of unfair trade practices, and reduced crime currently related to cash, such as ATM robberies, cash drawers, etc. Digital currency and a biblical Christian worldview. The Bible does not clearly state that there will be a one world currency in the end times. It is, however, alluded to in Revelation thirteen, sixteen through seventeen, which reads as follows Also it causes all both great and small, rich and poor, both free and slave to be marked on the right hand or the forehead so that no one can buy or sell unless he has the mark, that is the name of the beast or the number of its name. Many believe that in order for total control of buying and selling, there needs to be a single method of universal currency management and control. This includes a trusted form of personal ID referred to by Christians as the mark of the beast. Government control in digital currency, currently in its infancy, coupled with a dependable form of personal ID, would serve well as a universal method of transacting business. Of course, very few today would welcome the injection of an RFID chip, even though it has actually been in use in humans since 1998. Mark 1337. God bless you as you serve Him today. Today's podcast article was brought to you by BCworldview.org, providing honest reporting and analysis on the intersection of contemporary issues and theology based on a biblical Christian worldview. May God bless you as you continue to walk through this life with our Savior and Lord.