Helius Labs’ CEO calls out Binance's CZ for endorsing and contributing to Kyrgyzstan's CBDC efforts
The post Helius Labs’ CEO calls out Binance's CZ for endorsing and contributing to Kyrgyzstan's CBDC efforts appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
Mert Mumtaz, CEO of Helius Labs is one of those who sees CBDC as a step backward, one that puts custody of personal finances in the hands of the government. The Solana network contributor’s latest disapproval came as a vocal reaction to Changpeng Zhao’s support for a Kyrgyzstan government CBDC pilot. Several hours ago, CZ took to X to reveal what he called “updates from Kyrgyzstan.” In the post, he listed updates such as how the country’s national stablecoin has launched on BNB Chain, how the CBDC is ready for rollout, and how the national cryptocurrency reserve has been set up with BNB included. He also expressed pride in bringing Sign, a platform that describes itself as the blockchain stack built for sovereign nations, to work with Kyrgyzstan. Mert kicks against the idea of CBDCs In his response to CZ, Mert claimed CBDCs are “*entirely* antithetical to what crypto is.” He continued, “We are trading sovereignty for surveillance, everyone must be united in saying NO to this, crypto without privacy is not crypto.” Then in another tweet, he implied that CZ, with all his experience and know-how, should not be one of those “helping nations” develop CBDCs” and called it “incredible to brag about.” “It is insane to me that the most influential person in crypto is not only promoting this, but making it happen, unbelievable, CBDCs are entirely dystopian,” Mert’s statement reads. Quite a number of commenters seemed to agree with Mert’s opinions with a considerable number claiming CZ does not actually care about the industry and will do anything “to pump his bags.” CZ’s progress update comes after his two-day trip to Kyrgyzstan CZ’s ties to Kyrgyzstan have grown since he made his first visit to Kyrgyzstan in May, when he was introduced to President Sadyr Japarov, became…
