I was watching two people buy ice cream using their phones today. It occurs that they can only do that because the central bank that controls their phone apps/bank account hasn’t frozen their favors.
If money represents personal favors between two people, introducing a third party into money means someone else can show you disfavor (heh)
Fiat money is “controlled” centrally, but not each transaction.
Digital Fiat money is both “controlled” centrally, but each transaction must be approved by a third party (outside of some fringe distributed ledgers).
Like if you were a human rights reporter in a war torn country, and you tried to buy ice cream… maybe you couldn’t anymore, all your favors have been expired.
Full Disclosure - I’ve been influenced by this great book https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt:_The_First_5,000_Years
I had this thought in a swimming pool, and not a shower, but a pool is shower adjacent so I thought this might count.
If banks started to prevent people from using their money, you would have way bigger problems than buying ice cream.
It happened during canadian antivax protests. Many people cheered that antivaxxers were shown their place while forgeting that every stick has two ends.
They already do, just some people. Like the ICC prosecutor that was sanctioned by the US and can’t have email service, bank accounts with any organization that wants to do business with the USA. I think thats the reason Germany is dropping microsoft.