Fear of government abuse prevents support for digital dollar

With over 72,000 Canadians discussing this topic over the last year (Nov 29, '22-Nov, 29 '23) Polly identified that fears of government surveillance are hindering support for the digital dollar

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Over 72,000 Canadians are engaged in a rich discussion online about digital currency. They see it as a needed modernization of our financial system that will make it easier to conduct business internationally and will actually democratize the monetary system – making it more accessible to people who are today disenfranchised because they don’t have the knowledge or means to work with global financial systems. They also believe it will lead to greater cost efficiencies. You can see the full conversations just on the benefits of digital currency here in this dashboard (click “Open” to see the conversations): Full Report 

Table 1: A graph summarizing the benefits of the digital dollar according to Canadians

While these are the many benefits sighted for the digital dollar, the main drawback is seen as “big brother” government control such as surveillance and the concomitant opportunities for abuse and even tyranny, according to some posts. When graphed together, fears of government abuse far outweigh the potential benefits that people discussed, as shown here in Table 2:

Table 2: Central Bank surveillance is a major drawback to the adoption of the digital dollar

To see the discussions around fears of government control you can consult this dashboard: Fears of Government Control Report 

Overall, when we balance out the concerns and just ask “Do you support a digital dollar?” the overall response is positive with almost 60% saying it would be a good idea.You can see the dashboard with the question here: Do you support a digital dollar? 

Table 3: Almost 60% of Canadians support a digital dollar

Of these respondents, the distribution skews older and male:

Table 4: Demographic profile of respondents: Do you support the digital dollar?

The overall conclusion is that, if the government is able to put in systems and controls to prevent abuse, there will be widespread support for the digital dollar.Fear of government abuse prevents support for digital dollar