Christine Lagarde Getting Fooled on a Prank Call About Crypto Reminds You of the Emporer Who Got Conned Into Wearing No Clothing.
Her tone-deaf thoughts on digital currencies make you realise she has an alternative agenda (CBDCs)
Photo By Brinacor On WikiMedia Commons
Do you ever feel like people who swim against the tide of popular opinion or vehemently deny the truth do it for an ulterior motive?
It’s like ‘flat earthers’ who get a weird kick out of having a controversial opinion of the world.
They’re not doing it because they wholeheartedly believe in what they’re saying. It’s all the other fluff around it, like being part of a community that shares unconventional beliefs giving them a sense of belonging.
It can be a delusion.
Christine Lagarde is a hotshot French lawyer and politician now turned European Central Bank president.
She’s old school and everything you want in someone looking after the continent’s cash. Lagarde is as stubborn as a Jack Russell terrier with a tennis ball regarding monetary policy and publicly disdains cryptocurrency.
It feels more sinister than you think and involves Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).
I’ve seen her in question-time interviews with live audiences, and you can sense young people listening to her outdated message are thinking, “What the frickin heck is this person talking about”.
Christine Lagarde says, “Your crypto is worthless”, because its based on nothing.
She also wants to introduce CBDCs with high controls and monitoring, i.e., anything over $300 (proof here).
But if you’re worried, “don’t be”, because she’ll back your money “100%” without explaining how. Besides, the European Central Bank can print more if they run out.
It gets worse.
Recently Lagarde hit media headlines after being prank called by someone she thought was Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy heck, he might as well have been the Emporer’s “cunning weaver” selling an invisible garment.
The prankster asked her questions about Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).
The video, while hilarious, is beyond belief.
Lagarde expresses her concerns over digital currencies big tech companies like Meta, Google and Amazon may develop. She fears these currencies could take over Europe’s sovereignty and become the continent’s primary trading currency.
Her statements in the prank video about maintaining control are remarkable.
The person she speaks to sounds nothing like Zelenskyy, and her unapologetic stance on wanting to control your money is alarming.
You might be from a Country where it does not currently impact you, but make no mistake. You’ll have all this coming.
Christine Lagarde — Source
“I don’t want Meta, Google or Amazon to suddenly come up with a currency that will take over the sovereignty of Europe.
I want a foreign currency to be something other than the currency of trading within Europe, so we have to be ready.
Now the problem is people don’t want to be controlled.
You know what? Now we have this threshold above 1,000 Euros in Europe. You cannot pay cash.
If you do, you are on the grey market and take your risk. If you get caught, you’ll get fined or go to jail.
But you know the digital Euro will have a limited amount of control. There will be control. You’re right. You’re entirely correct.
We are considering whether we could have a mechanism with zero control for very small amounts, anything around 300–400 Euros, but that could be dangerous.”
It Takes People To Think Critically and Challenge Deception.
Largarde’s interaction with the Prank caller and her out-of-touch stance on what young people think about freedom and self-sovereignty reminds me of the folktale story where the Emperor, convinced by cunning weavers, parades naked through the town.
At the same time, everyone pretends to see his fine clothes. However, a child shouts, “He has nothing on at all”, exposing the Emperor’s nudity and revealing the deception.
The tale is a metaphor for our tendency to conform, even in the face of apparent falsehoods or absurdity.
It’s how I view Lagarde’s take on CBDCs during the call.
It’s tone-deaf.
Self-custody of digital assets is increasingly becoming a social norm, and investing in these alternative assets is seen as something young people now do, like pop culture.
Her Cryptocurrency smear campaign and her out-of-touch implementation of stricter controls of our money concern people.
Let’s dive into it.
The Towns People See Lagarde Naked, and the Data Shows It.
Lagarde is concerned that you must be fully aware of the risks involved in cryptocurrency and thinks you’ll lose all of your investment.
She points out cryptocurrency recently experienced a significant 20% drop in value within just one week.
No one wants to lose money, but Twenty per cent is rookie numbers, and it’s only a loss if you sell.
Her concern lies with those who don’t fully understand the risks, as they may face disappointment and financial loss.
And she says you should avoid putting money into something that relies on the hype or success stories of others to assume that the asset you’re buying will always increase in value.
Christine Lagarde — Source
“My very humble assessment is that Crypto is worth nothing. It’s based on nothing, and there are no underlying assets to act as an anchor of safety.
If the day comes when we have the central bank digital currency or any digital euro, I will guarantee that the central bank will be behind it.”
Here’s What the Data Says.
People once on the fence about Cryptocurrencies are now considering self-custody assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum, viewing them as a safer haven than the traditional banking world.
And it shows because the prices are rallying and wallet addresses are increasing rapidly.
According to data from the on-chain analytics firm Santiment, BTC now has 45.14 million addresses, which grew by 3.95% (1.71 million wallets) during the last two months.
Further data from Ark Invest shows around 71% of Bitcoin has not moved in over six months, increasing the likelihood of it ever being sold.
This trend indicates that new users are joining the network, and more people are starting to use Bitcoin.
Final Thoughts
I wouldn’t say I like putting out overly critical blogs of people.
It’s not me.
I appreciate that we all have different views of the world.
But the story highlights a moral lesson.
If you can show your fallibility while in a position of high power by a prank caller using AI in his mom’s basement, what other errors in judgement could you be making? (you may need to fact-check the mom’s basement part)
It’s now more important than ever for people to think critically, navigate towards honesty and question things that could uncover deceit.
To me, Lagarde is trashing cryptocurrency to promote CBDCs, all while debasing the Euro with more money printing and no real plan to bring down the debt ceiling.
What is she expecting people to do when inflation is at record highs, and your spending power is dramatically less?
You’re investing in decentralised assets that don’t involve people because we’ve lost total trust in centralised planners.
CBDCs are a full-gone conclusion.
Tone-deaf control over our money is not.
And a cryptocurrency smear campaign is about as valuable as an invisible garment.