Currency Monopoly & Sovereignty
Henry Kissinger once quoted: ‘Who controls the food supply controls the people; who controls the energy can control whole continents; who controls money can control the world.’ Money is power. The power of money is limitless. Big money is big politics. Undoubtedly, Bitcoin has been closely interconnecting with politics ever since it was created.
Due to tremendous gains, in terms of seigniorage revenues and inflation tax, currency issuance is the main source of income of a country. By regulating or manipulation of currency policy, the government not only controls financial and economic sectors, but also manages wide-range of human activities of the societies, both domestic and international, depending on the strength and influence of its currency.
On the contrary, the weakening of currency sovereignty may diminish a government’s control on domestic issues and influence on international matters. In extreme cases, once currency sovereignty is sacrificed, financial and social stability can be undermined, causing social unrest and even disastrous impact on societies, as seen from Asia countries during Asian Financial Crisis happened in 1997.