When the governments started screaming CBDCs this, CBDCs that, many of us did not understand at the time what that could possibly grow to be, well, I can assure you that there's a chance it is going to be a cryptocurrency, not a fake one as we've often called it in the past.
Understanding the word "cryptocurrency"
When we talk about cryptocurrencies, people immediately think - decentralization, ownership, control, but cryptocurrency isn't majority of that in the base layer, blockchain is what enables majority of this and with the proper governance structure being deployed, it attains decentralization within the system, which, in reality can still be very concentrated!
Cryptocurrencies have nothing to do with any of that in the base layer, a cryptocurrency is just a set of data on-chain, coming together as a unique record that cannot be altered or manipulated, why? Because it is protected by "cryptography".
Cryptocurrencies or assets are typically currencies or assets that are protected by cryptography. Cryptography is a technology for securing data. When you progress from here to talking about decentralization, you're effectively bringing in other technologies like consensus algorithms and smart contracts.
CBDCs are cryptocurrencies
Now you see, a CBDCs is or can essentially be a cryptocurrency, heck, blockchains can be private and centralized but majority of the time we define them as "decentralized and immutable ledgers" well ding ding, not all blockchains are decentralized and immutable.
JPMorgan Chase currently runs a blockchain network called Onyx that is purposed for the tokenization of traditional finance assets and the facilitation of global trades via its borderless network and hell we all know that shit is the definition of centralized protocols and truth be told, that's what it is always meant to be.
Bitcoin as we know, could have easily been made centralized, or should we say that it was first centralized?
Yes, it wasn't always decentralized because everything begins with one man, one system, becoming flexible and decentralized is a choice, a decision made moving forward.
Crypto is everything the financial system is but with two key differences
Crypto is not different from fiat, I'm not sorry to say this.
Depending on what cryptocurrency you're talking about, at the very base layer, crypto is exactly what fiat is but with two key differences.
The first is that cryptocurrencies are borderless, the use of blockchain technology allows cryptocurrencies to scale at a large margin when compared to fiat currencies that are limited for political reasons.
Crypto has no direct ties with politics, thus, it can typically exist above them, this is why there's the difficulty to control, stop or regulate it.
Secondly, crypto is the peoples' tech.
What does that mean?
What that means is that cryptocurrencies enabled something that was only available to the selected few to be easily accessed by the majority, thus, it is the peoples' tech.
The ease of creating money out of thin air and building finance or business structures around them, fiat enabled the government to create and control value flow, cryptocurrencies took that power several steps forward and gave the people the ability to do the same in the most insane manner.
Looking closely at all that is being built upon these crypto protocols, you'll realize that there isn't much over the head difference between crypto and fiat, they are both currencies that can be minted at will, however, how one chooses to manage and grow its economy is where a huge difference sets in.
Cryptocurrency can be centralized and it doesn't change the fact that it is still a currency protected by cryptography. A blockchain can be centralized and it is still going to be a "distributed ledger".
Bitcoin wasn't a tell that crypto is decentralized money by default, it was a tell that one could be created and protected by cryptographic algorithms, and consensus mechanisms.
Governance, protocol algorithms, smart contracts, these are a few factors that make certain cryptocurrencies or assets decentralized money or assets.