in a interview With Peter McCormack, the veteran bitcoin advocate and host of a podcast that originally focused solely on bitcoin before expanding to cover UK politics, former UK Prime Minister Liz Truss expressed her support for bitcoin and expressed deep reserves on central bank digital currencies (CBDC). Truss, who briefly served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and leader of the Conservative Party, spoke candidly about monetary policy, the independence of the Bank of England, and the potential implications of CBDCs.
Pro-bitcoin, against CBDCs
During the interview, Truss explained her position on digital assets, emphasizing their ability to “take power away from central banks.” She stated: “I am a supporter of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. I think they are a good thing. I think they help take power away from central banks… I'm very, very concerned about something like a central bank digital currency. “I think they give the state enormous amounts of power.”
She expressed concern about the unbridled influence exerted by central banks, particularly the Bank of England, which she said remains “irresponsible”. Referring to quantitative easing (QE) and inflationary pressures, Truss said: “We've had huge levels of inflation, we've had QE that went on too long, spikes in asset prices… and the result was inflation. “They told us beforehand that it was going to be temporary and it was not, although all the lessons had been learned before.”
According to Truss, these policy decisions, combined with a lack of accountability, have resulted in significant financial pressure on British households.
McCormack pressed Truss on whether a central bank is really necessary. He stressed that if the UK decides to maintain a central bank, it must address its governance: “That's an interesting question. Well, if we have one, we should be held accountable. So right now we have the worst of all worlds: we have an unaccountable central bank.”
Truss criticized the transfer of power from the Treasury to the Bank of England which dates back to former chancellor Gordon Brown's decision to grant operational independence to the bank. He suggested that the lack of strong oversight led to policy mistakes with long-term consequences. “What Gordon Brown did to make it independent… you can see the results. “We’ve had QE for too long… supporting very, very lax government spending policies with money printing.”
Truss made it clear that she sees a potential danger in an official central bank digital currency. Highlighting his main misgivings, he said: “I think they give the state enormous amounts of power and what we know is that excessive state power is not a good thing… it also feels like part of state surveillance.”
His comments echoed broader concerns within the cryptocurrency community, where critics warn that a CBDC could allow governments to monitor and control individual transactions more directly than with cash or decentralized cryptocurrencies.
Reflecting on her tenure in government, Truss revealed that delving into monetary policy issues was not discouraged: “When I was at the Treasury and tried to ask about monetary policy, I was told it wasn't our responsibility, it was the government's responsibility. Bank of England…during the leadership campaign in 2022, in which I outlined all the policies I was going to pursue, I said we should look again at the mandate of the Bank of England.”
He insisted that a broader debate about the mandate and responsibility of the Bank of England is crucial to ensuring stronger monetary policies. According to Truss, the Chancellor of the Exchequer should not shy away from adopting such policies, despite resistance from the Bank or accusations of threatening its independence.
“Any time an organization justifies itself by saying it is independent, in my opinion, that is a red flag that there is a problem. So we have to talk about all this: the international monetary system, the independence of central banks, the role of cryptocurrencies,” Truss commented.
At press time, the price of bitcoin was $94,079.
Featured image from YouTube/Peter McCormack, chart from TradingView.com
