Antichrist.net

Architecture

“Digital ID” and “CBDC” are too broad to discuss responsibly without architecture. The design choices matter: who verifies identity, who sees transactions, whether payments work offline, whether money is programmable, and whether data can be linked across systems.

What to notice

Identity stackProofing, credential issuance, authentication, portability, federation, and revocation are separate layers with different risks.
CBDC modelsRetail, wholesale, account-based, token-like, direct, hybrid, offline, and programmable models should be distinguished.
Why it mattersProphecy discourse becomes less useful when it treats all payment technology as one imagined beast system.

Discussion questions

  • Which design choices increase coercive control?
  • How can a payment system support inclusion without building a surveillance machine?