BRUSSELS ― A conspiracy theory is spreading across Europe. It has nothing to do with lizards in human form or the Freemasons or COVID, and there’s every chance you’ve never heard of it. But give it time. You will.
It is why Marc Friedrich, a 47-year-old bestselling finance author, is warning about microchips being implanted under people’s skin and why Jörg Meuthen, a member of the European Parliament, is raising the specter of secret government surveillance. Already, public rallies have been held in Amsterdam.
On the surface, the issue is unlikely to inspire much excitement. But that, its detractors say, is exactly why it’s so invidious. It’s a digital version of the euro — “cash” stored and used for payments on a smartphone, as opposed to purchases made by credit card or bank transfer or by old-fashioned paper and coins — which the European Central Bank hopes to introduce in 2026. At the last count, only about a third of people in Europe have heard of it, let alone understand it.
Friedrich does. “It’s a fucking trap,” he said, by way of explanation.
The 47-year-old German is making a name for himself opposing digital currencies on YouTube where his videos have amassed more than 350,000 subscribers. For him, this isn’t a conspiracy theory, it’s genuine fear about where the world’s heading. “They’ll say, ‘Hey, it’s easier, it’s tidier, you don’t have to put your fingers on these dirty notes and you don’t get COVID virus’ or something like that. ‘A robber can’t steal your money anymore — but you can have a chip under your skin.’
“It’s the perfect tool for surveillance and a digital dictatorship.”
It should be made clear at this point that the ECB’s plan does not include putting chips under people’s skin.
According to psychologists, many of the same groups who associated themselves with non-mainstream views during the pandemic have latched onto this issue too. The question is why.
Rabbit hole
While there’s no easy way to decide where legitimate criticism ends and conspiracy theories begin — justifiable reasons to oppose the digital euro continue to be put forward — psychologists say it’s noteworthy that an otherwise niche topic has become a lightning rod for people who have become increasingly agitated by such things.
Something changed during the pandemic. A study published in the science journal Plos One last October suggested COVID conspiracies acted like a gateway drug to other theories.
“If you believe the government lied to you about COVID numbers or that they leaked the virus intentionally … what else could they have lied about?” said Javier Granados Samayoa, a postdoctoral fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania and lead author of the report. “And when you’re out there looking for information and communicating with [like-minded] people, they are most likely to get information about other conspiracy theories and that can lead them down the rabbit hole.”
This is exemplified by viewers’ comments on Friedrich’s YouTube videos, which include remarks like, “If you don’t need your eyes to see NOW, you’ll need them later to cry;” “I believe the decline is consciously brought and wanted;” and “I fight for freedom!”
The digital euro is an ideal fit for people afraid that those in charge have malevolent intent, Granados Samayoa said.
“Bankers are a perfect representation of people who have power over you, and you don’t really know what’s going on,” he said. “These kinds of stories match the conspiracy theorists’ general concerns.”
That’s a view shared by Peter Ditto, professor of psychological science at the University of California and a specialist in political conspiratorial thinking, who suggested that the tumult of recent years has contributed to a new era of old theories. Even putting the COVID pandemic aside, the financial crisis, the Donald Trump U.S. presidency, Brexit, and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine have upended many old certainties.
When people feel they’re living through “politically chaotic” times, conspiracy theories flourish, he said — and especially when they are already suspicious about ulterior motives of the media, governments and the courts.
That makes it easier to believe there are “global elites who are trying to create a digital money so there won’t be any more real money in the world,” he said.
Loonies, idiots
Policymakers insist one of the benefits of the digital euro and other so-called CBDCs (central bank digital currencies), such as those being floated in the U.K., U.S. and Russia, is to ensure there’s a form of digital cash backed by the state amid cryptocurrencies and plans by Big Tech to introduce their own money.
Legislation to allow the digital euro’s introduction will come before European lawmakers in the coming months. EU Finance Commissioner Mairead McGuinness has already urged MEPs to dial back the “Big Brother” rhetoric while the Commission has outlined design features it says will safeguard payment privacy and has proposed laws that would force retailers to still accept cash.
Michiel Hoogeveen, a Dutch MEP who will lead scrutiny of the laws on behalf of the European Conservatives and Reformists group and is skeptical about the project, said there was a difference between those who peddle conspiracy theories and those who have legitimate concerns.
“We had people who were protesting against COVID, they had a podium, they were very successful on being on social media as an influencer, donations were pouring in, and now COVID is gone, the rules were lifted, so they need to move to the next big thing,” he said. “My job is to read about their concerns, listen to their concerns … not by saying, ‘You’re a looney, you’re an idiot,’ but to say, ‘OK, I understand where you’re going,’ … and try to lure people into a more acceptable area of the debate.”
As people decide the real reasons for digital currencies may be more sinister than they first appear — and politicians realize egging them on can be a vote-winner — authorities might find it harder to convince the public they will protect privacy and safeguard the use of cash.
“My impression is that in fact they do not even want to do that, because government surveillance and a cashless society is their final aim,” said Meuthen, a German Center Party member of the European Parliament. “I’m deeply worried that the project of the digital euro is not only a project to develop a useful additional instrument of future payments, but that the real intention is the start of replacing any kind of cash payments.”
Undesirable purchases
Among people’s biggest concerns ― roundly rejected by governments and central banks ― is that digital currencies will allow the state to restrict what people can buy. In Europe those allegations often relate to meat or fuel, as a way of controlling obesity or climate change. In the U.S. populist politicians argue some sectors of society could be prevented from buying guns.
“It will allow them to prohibit undesirable purchases like fuel and ammunition,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Donald Trump’s chief rival for the Republican bid for the White House, said during a debate. “The minute you give them the power to do this, they’re going to impose a social credit system on this country. CBDC is a massive threat to American liberty.”
And in the U.K., Nigel Farage, one of the architects of Britain’s departure from the EU, used a BBC interview about the closure of his bank account in July to bring up the unrelated issue of the digital pound.
“I am now a champion and a crusader for men and women who have been closed down by the banks and I want cultural changes within the banks and I want legal changes and I do not want cash driven out of the system in a push towards central bank digital currencies,” he said.
Nazi Germany
In the face of such remarks, policymakers fear an uphill battle.
Responses to a recent consultation on the digital pound “suggest concern about a desire by the authorities to reach into people’s privacy, which is absolutely at odds with what we should do, and indeed would,” Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said in a speech in July. “There are stories of skepticism around the benefits to be expected from the iPhone, and going further back, railways.”
The Bank of England and Treasury are considering the conclusions of the consultation. A decision on whether to move ahead with a digital version of the pound won’t be taken for a couple of years. Negotiations over the legislation in the EU are expected to go beyond June’s Parliament elections.
Back in Germany, Friedrich warned “liberty and our democracy are in danger” — and he can see some ugly historical parallels.
“I hope there is no plan but for me it makes no sense to create a digital euro unless you want to control people,” he said. “When my grandfather was dying I asked him everything about Nazi Germany. I know how it happens.”
Source: POLITICO
