VISUAL CAPITALIST: Central banks around the world are getting involved in digital currencies, but some are further ahead than others.
In this map, Visual Capitalist’s Marcus Ku uses data from the Atlantic Council’s Currency Tracker to visualize the state of each central banks’ digital currency effort.
Digital Currency – The Basics
Digital currencies have been around since the 1980s, but didn’t become widely popular until the launch of Bitcoin in 2009. Today, there are thousands of digital currencies in existence, also referred to as “cryptocurrencies”.
A defining feature of cryptocurrencies is that they are based on a blockchain ledger. Blockchains can be either decentralized or centralized, but the most known cryptocurrencies today (Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc.) tend to be decentralized in nature. This makes transfers and payments very difficult to trace because there is no single entity with full control.
Government-issued digital currencies, on the other hand, will be controlled by a central bank and are likely to be easily trackable. They would have the same value as the local cash currency, but instead issued digitally with no physical form.
Central Bank Digital Currencies Worldwide
105 countries are currently exploring centralized digital currencies. Together, they represent 95% of global GDP.
When aggregated, we can see that the majority of countries are in the research stage.
Opinion: To all my friends and family who think I have been carried away with prophecy, are you now convinced that this is real? Probably not, so here are countries in varying stages of going cashless:
Can you name another generation that had the ability to go cashless? I can’t either. And what is so terrifying is that most Christians have no idea this is happening.
I can’t help but wonder what John thought about the words he was given.
“He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” Revelation 13:16-17
Those astounding words were followed by this:
“Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: his number is 666.” Revelation 13:18
To be clear, we have no idea what the final mark will look like nor do we fully understand the number of his name. When writing my first and only book, I looked into two other marks with the same conclusion:
Excerpt, Antichrist: The Search for Amalek
- The mark that protected Cain from being killed: “And the
Lord set a mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill
him” (Gen. 4:15). - .The future mark that will protect the 144,000 Jewish male
virgins: “And I heard the number of those who were sealed.
One hundred and forty-four thousand of all the tribes of the
children of Israel were sealed [on their foreheads]” (Rev. 7:4).
(the future mark of the Beast is already previously quoted)
So why now? Why are signs like the cashless society that will give governments immense power happening globally now?
Let’s take a look at the text:
32 Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.
33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!
34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
Who is the generation that Jesus spoke of? It is important to keep in mind that the question Jesus was answering in the parable of the fig tree is not just a certain generation, but how to tell the signs of the end of the age, and the rebirth of Israel is a major sign.
So does ‘this generation‘ identify THE GENERATION THAT WITNESSED ISRAEL’S REBIRTH and the end of the age?
If so, we can point to the Baby Boom Generation that started in 1946, two years before Israel became a nation after almost 2000 years, and witnessed Israel’s rebirth. And if so, it is the generation who will see all the prophecies of the second coming before it passes away.
If Matthew’s ‘this generation’ is related to Israel’s rebirth on May 14, 1948 it could mean that ‘this generation’ that Jesus spoke of is here.
“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” Matthew 25:13 …
