CBDC will be used for ‘control,’ ECB president admits in vid chat with fake Zelensky

The ECB president admitted that “there will be control” in regards to a digital euro, much to the displeasure of the crypto community.

A widely shared video of European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde admitting that a digital euro will be used in a “limited” way to control the payments that people can make was taken from a three-week-old prank video.

The video was highlighted by the breaking news account Watcher Guru on April 6 and generated a significant amount of social media chatter. In it, Lagarde cited a desire to not be reliant on an “unfriendly countries currency,” or a currency provided by a “private corporate entity like Facebook or like Google.” She said she is “personally convinced that we have to move ahead” with the digital euro.

JUST IN: European Central Bank President reveals plans to launch a digital euro (CBDC), says there will be control over payments. pic.twitter.com/szCFxBkZDR
— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) April 6, 2023

Cointelegraph traced the original source of the video to a prank video from March 17 in which Lagarde appears to speak more candidly than normal, as she believed she was speaking to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

The pranksters have had similar conversations with other public figures, including Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling and former United States President George W. Bush.

When “Zelensky" noted that “the problem is they [European protestors] don’t want to be controlled” by a central bank digital currency, Lagarde admitted that “there will be control, you’re right. You’re completely right,” but suggested it would be a “limited amount of control,” adding:

“We are considering whether for very small amounts, anything that is around 300, 400 euros, we could have a mechanism where there is zero control. But that could be dangerous.”

But Lagarde noted that terrorist attacks can, and have been, entirely financed by small, anonymous transactions.

Lagarde’s comments have been heavily criticized by the crypto community, particularly relating to her mention that a digital euro would allow for control over people and payments.

BREAKING: European Central Bank President speaks about plans to launch a digital euro (CBDC),

She says there will be control over payments.

This is HORRIBLE folks! Do NOT give into their control. Turn to crypto and $XRP, not this bullshit!

The harder they push control upon… pic.twitter.com/rfZ1Eh6Roa
— MASON VERSLUIS (@MasonVersluis) April 6, 2023

Some users saw the bright side, suggesting that by making it clear “where all this is going,” people will be pushed towards using decentralized currencies such as Bitcoin (BTC).

I’d personally like to thank Christina LeGarde for choosing to advance bitcoin by making it so painfully obvious to the masses where all this is going.
— ₿itcoin Kramer ⚡️⚡️⚡️ (@KramericaBTC_) April 7, 2023

The ECB began a two-year investigation into a digital euro back in July 2021 and has been reporting on its progress.

The investigation is set to conclude on Sept. 29, and according to Lagarde, a decision about whether one will be launched will be made in October.

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Anonymous user sends ETH from Tornado Cash to prominent figures following sanctions

Coin Telegraph

It appears to be an ongoing prank to challenge the novel Tornado Cash sanctions.

On Tuesday, one day after the U.S. Treasury sanctioned cryptocurrency mixer Tornado Cash for its alleged role in cryptocurrency money laundering operations, intervals of 0.1 Ether (ETH) transactions began materializing from the smart contract to prominent figures such as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong and American television host Jimmy Fallon. It is not possible to trace the source of the transactions per Tornado Cash design, and as a result, either one individual or multiple individuals or entities could be involved in the operation.

Notable individuals/companies who just received funds from a government-sanctioned entity:

- Jimmy Fallon
- Shaquille O'Neal
- PUMA
- Randi Zuckerberg
- Logan Paul
- Brian Armstrong
- Steve Aoki
- Ukraine Crypto Donation
- Dave Chappelle
- Beeple

Field day for investigators. https://t.co/9HDJmppzT2
— FatMan (@FatManTerra) August 9, 2022

Due to sanctions, it is illegal for any U.S. persons and entities to interact with Tornado Cash’s smart contract addresses, blockchain or business-wise. Penalties for willful noncompliance can range from fines of $50,000 to $10,000,000 and 10 to 30 years imprisonment.

The consistency of the transactions indicate that the sender(s) may be starting a prank as to direct law enforcement attention to the recipient individuals. However, the Treasury sanctions require "willful" engagement with the blacklisted smart contract addresses as a precondition for possible criminal proceedings. Thus, it is unlikely that the receipt of tokens from Tornado Cash on a gratuitous basis, without any prior knowledge nor engagement, can constitute a violation of the sanctions.

The same day, Web3 development platforms Alchemy and Infura.io joined stablecoin issuer Circle and programming depository vault GitHub in blacklisting the sanctioned Tornado Cash addresses and barring access to its front-end application. Months prior, Tornado Cash attempted to address ongoing concerns that its platform was being used by malicious hackers to launder stolen crypto funds by disabling illicit wallets from accessing the application. However, its co-founder, Roman Semenov said at the time that the instrument only blocks access to the decentralized application, or DApp, interface and not the underlying smart contract.

Months prior, Tornado Cash attempted to address ongoing concerns that its platform was being used by malicious hackers to launder stolen crypto funds by disabling illicit wallets from accessing the application. However, its co-founder, Roman Semenov said at the time that the instrument only blocks access to the decentralized application, or DApp, interface and not the underlying smart contract.

Prank