CBDCs, Gold & Silver and SB130

Apr 3

10 min read

134

By Dean Odle

April 3, 2025

During my campaign for Governor of Alabama, I did not miss a debate or candidate forum held by various groups across the state. Of course, Governor Kay Ivey did not show up for any of the debates or candidate forums. She was hidin’ like Biden (but even Biden showed up for a debate). The last gubernatorial debate was on September 25, 2022, in Huntsville, Alabama. The debate was supposed to include the Democrat nominee Yolanda Flowers, the Libertarian candidate Dr. Jimmy Blake, and the last-minute addition of the only true, conservative Republican still in the race at that time…ME.

Sadly, when Democrat nominee Yolanda Flowers discovered that I would be in the debate, she withdrew (even though she helped prepare the questions and format of the debate). Amazingly, the debate questions were sent to each candidate BEFORE the debate. This was strange to me, but it made it easier to prepare. One of the debate questions was about cryptocurrencies. It asked, “How much regulation should the government have over the crypto industry?” This question led me to dig into the latest news and trends about cryptocurrencies. That research led me to find out that there is a much bigger problem than unregulated cryptocurrency. It is called a Central Bank Digital Currency or CBDC for short and if it is adopted and passed into law, it will be the final nail in the coffin of freedom for America.

The Differences Between CBDCs and Crypto

Before we go any further, it is vitally important to define what a cryptocurrency is and how it is very different from a CBDC. Cryptocurrencies are an encrypted data string that denotes a unit of currency. It is a decentralized form of currency. It is monitored by and organized by a peer-to-peer network called a blockchain which also serves as a secure ledger of transactions. So, by its very nature cryptocurrency operates outside of governments or bank regulations and controls. Because of this, many governments like China, Egypt, Iraq, Qatar, Oman, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and Bangladesh and forty-two other countries have implicitly banned digital currencies by putting restrictions on the ability for banks to deal with crypto or prohibiting cryptocurrency exchanges.

This lack of control and traceability has caused the governments of many nations to create or move toward creating their own form of digital currency called Central Bank Digital Currency or CBDC. Why are governments like China and India pushing for CBDCs instead of blockchain encrypted cryptocurrency? According to an India TV host for NDTV, “Governments can track all transactions; thus it is easier for them to control and monitor everyone…Governments also get the power to FREEZE a specific wallet overnight…something that cannot be done in a crypto space at all.”

An article in the Telegraph, back in June, was just as candid: “Digital cash could be programmed to ensure it is only spent on essentials, or goods which an employer or Government deems to be sensible.” The article goes on to quote Tom Mutton, a director at the BoE: “You could introduce programmability […] There could be some socially beneficial outcomes from that, preventing activity which is seen to be socially harmful in some way.” Programmability changes everything: The people issuing the money would have the power to control how it is spent. That’s not an interpretation or a “conspiracy theory”, just listen to Agustin Carstens, head of the International Settlement Bank, speaking earlier this year: … “The key difference [with a CBDC] is that the central bank would have absolute control on the rules and regulations that will determine the USE of that expression of central bank liability, and they have the technology to enforce that.”

In interviews with Decrypt, ShapeShift founder Erik Voorhees has also called CBDCs “Orwellian,” and whistleblower Edward Snowden has called them “cryptofascist currencies.” [1] If you thought Covid restrictions, contact tracing and vaccine mandates were taking away your freedoms, government control through a Central Bank Digital Currency will be totalitarianism on steroids. This is the kind of control that Hitler, Mao and Lenin could only dream about. Of course, the former Soviet Union almost accomplished this, but they lacked the technology in the early 20th century to make it airtight. However, it was and always has been the goal of the Communists to have total economic control over their people. In the Ten Planks of Communism by Karl Marx, #5 is the “Centralization of credit in the hands of the state, by means of a national bank with state capital and an exclusive monopoly.”

In his article in Forbes Magazine entitled, “Central Bank Digital Currencies and Freedom Are Incompatible,” Michael Norbert stated, “The truth is CBDCs are government’s attempt to protect its privileged position and exert more control over people’s money….The real danger in CBDCs is that there is no limit to the level of control that the government could exert over people if money is purely electronic and provided directly by the government. A CBDC would give federal officials full control over the money going into–and coming out of–every person’s account.

This level of government control is not compatible with economic or political freedom.

Governments should foster more access to financial markets and ensure more innovation in financial services by supporting more private innovation and competition. They should reduce government monopoly and regulation and forgo issuing retail CBDCs.”[2 ]

In her article for the Dallas Morning News entitled, “A central bank cryptocurrency? The U.S. should reject it,” crypto-expert Natalie Smolenski tells it like it is…

“The introduction of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies has led the U.S. Treasury and Federal Reserve to ask: Why shouldn’t America roll out digital cash — or Central Bank Digital Currency — with the same technology used for these privately issued currencies? After all, anyone can create a shared digital ledger and issue their own currency on it.

But not all cryptocurrencies are created equal. Some, like bitcoin, prioritize the privacy and autonomy of the individual by enabling free transacting without trusted third parties. Other cryptos — including CBDCs — are built to be fully programmable — controllable — by the trusted third party that issues them. This is a major difference, and governments are counting on the fact that most people don’t know it.

The goal of CBDCs is to eventually replace paper cash — the last vestige of private financial transacting. CBDCs are issued on centralized digital ledgers that give governments full visibility into every cash transaction conducted by anyone, anywhere in the world. Every transaction is fully identity-verified. CBDCs can also be programmed to only spend with government-approved vendors for government-approved purchases. Central banks can directly implement negative interest rates on CBDCs to punish saving — Americans could see, for example, 2% shaved off of our cash balances every day, week, or month — however often the Fed wants in order to ‘stimulate’ spending. And of course, nothing prevents the government from simply confiscating your cash at any time.” [3]

Governments constant lust for more control and the implementation of social credit scores is why the Chinese government has deemed all cryptocurrencies illegal in China. In a BBC article dated September 24, 2021, entitled, “China declares all crypto-currency transactions illegal” states that, "Virtual currency-related business activities are illegal financial activities, “the People's Bank of China said, warning it "seriously endangers the safety of people's assets.” But this just not true.

The real reason the CCP has banned cryptocurrencies and is leading the world in pushing their CBDC is because they could not track or control all crypto transactions. It allowed too much freedom and free market activity among the Chinese people. Therefore we must ask the question why any Constitutional Republic like the United States would want to follow China’s lead and attempt to implement a United States CBDC Dollar? But this is exactly where China Joe Biden was trying to take the United States. His March 9, 2022, Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets is the Communists, left-wing Democrats push for a United States CBDC Dollar. It declares with all the woke buzzwords like inclusion and equity which we know is nothing more than a social credit score:

“Sec. 4. Policy and Actions Related to United States Central Bank Digital Currencies. (a) The policy of my Administration on a United States CBDC is as follows:

(i) Sovereign money is at the core of a well-functioning financial system, macroeconomic stabilization policies, and economic growth. My Administration places the highest urgency on research and development efforts into the potential design and deployment options of a United States CBDC. These efforts should include assessments of possible benefits and risks for consumers, investors, and businesses; financial stability and systemic risk; payment systems; national security; the ability to exercise human rights; financial inclusion and equity; and the actions required to launch a United States CBDC if doing so is deemed to be in the national interest.” [4]

Florida Leads the Way...Again

On March 20, 2023, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida held a press conference to address the very real dangers of CBDCs. He declared, “What [a] central bank digital currency is all about is surveilling Americans and controlling Americans,” he said. “You're opening up a major can of worms, and you're handing a central bank huge, huge amount of power, and they will use that power.” He proposed legislation in Florida that would “…prohibit any CBDC that the U.S. Federal Reserve could introduce and any created by a foreign government, outlawing the technology entirely from being used as a form of money within the state.”

He also warned that there is a “…concerted effort to back door provisions for the use of Central Bank Digital Currencies” in state legislatures by sneaking CBDC acceptance into bills dealing with State Uniform Commercial Codes. Governor DeSantis went on to call the Florida legislature to pass legislation that would “…expressly FORBID the use of CBDC as money within Florida’s Uniform Commercial Code.” He called on other “…like-minded states to adopt into their Uniform Commercial Codes and to reject any changes to their UCC that would formerly recognize a Central Bank Digital Currency.” Governor DeSantis said that he has talked to the Lt. Governor of Texas (who is the head of their state senate, and it looks like Texas is going to do something similar to what Florida is going to do. He stated, “Cash is King…I mean if you can hold it in your hand, you have power over that. The minute its all digitized somebody else is going to have control.”

SB130: The Alabama Legal Tender Act

Two years ago, I sent this article (CBDCs = The End of Freedom) to all our legislators in Alabama and told them, “Alabama MUST do the same thing. Our legislators MUST pass a bill that strictly forbids the adoption of any type of Central Bank Digital Currency, and we must take another step to pass legislation that would allow gold and silver to be used as currency in Alabama. ‘Louisiana, Utah, and Texas have passed legislation recognizing gold and silver as legal tender, a move that allows citizens to make transactions using precious metals in place of cash. Seven other states that have either passed or introduced legislation in favor of the metals, Louisiana, Utah, and Texas are now taking further steps toward establishing regulatory depositories to hold gold and silver.’” [5]

I am happy to report that on March 4, 2025, the Alabama Senate unanimously passed a bill to recognize gold and silver as legal tender. Senator Tim Melson filed Senate Bill 130 (SB130). Under the Alabama Legal Tender Act, “…any refined gold or silver bullion, specie, or coin that has been stamped, marked, or imprinted with its weight and purity” would be recognized as legal tender in the state. The passage of SB130 would make Alabama the sixth state to recognize gold and silver as legal tender, as they always should have been doing. Utah led the way, reestablishing constitutional money in 2011. Wyoming, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana have since joined.

“The United States Constitution states in Article I, Section 10, “No State shall…make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts.” Currently, all debts and taxes in most states are either paid with Federal Reserve Notes (dollars) which were authorized as legal tender by Congress, or with coins issued by the U.S. Treasury – very few of which have gold or silver in them.

The Federal Reserve destroys this constitutional monetary system by creating a monopoly based on its fiat paper currency. Without the backing of gold or silver, the central bank can easily create money out of thin air.

This not only devalues your purchasing power over time; it also allows the federal government to borrow and spend far beyond what would be possible in a sound money system. Without the Fed, the U.S. government wouldn’t be able to maintain all of its unconstitutional wars and programs. The Federal Reserve is the engine that drives the most powerful government in the history of the world.

State bills that facilitate and encourage the use of sound money create a playing field where people can push back against the Fed’s monetary malfeasance. Ultimately, it could create a scenario where people can drive out the “bad” fiat money with “good” sound money.” [6]

What's Next?

SB130 now moves to the Alabama House of Representatives. It was referred to the House Financial Services Committee where it must get a hearing and pass by a majority vote before moving to a full vote on the House floor. Alabamians need to contact members of the committee and all House members to pass this important bill. Then, we must pursue a bill that forbids the mandate of any type of digital currency in Alabama.

This is the only way to maintain true freedom in the coming years. The ultimate goal of these wicked globalists was foretold two thousand years ago in Bible prophecy, “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (Revelation 13:16-17). This has been the stated agenda of these globalists for many decades from Klaus Schwab to Joe Biden. We must stand against this evil plot and keep Alabama free.