UK’s tokenised deposit pilot reveals systemic risks of CBDC centralisation and financial exclusion in global digital currency race
Original framing: “UK banks make first interbank transactions using tokenised deposits - Reuters” — Reuters (via Google News)
The voices of UK food bank users, migrant communities, and disabled individuals—who face digital exclusion—are absent, despite 1.3M UK adults lacking basic digital skills. A 2023 *Citizens Advice* report found 2M people avoid banks due to fees, yet tokenisation’s ‘frictionless’ narrative assumes universal access. The pilot’s focus on ‘wholesale’ transactions ignores how retail tokenisation could deepen inequality, as seen in India’s UPI system where 200M remain unbanked despite its success.
The UK’s tokenised deposit pilot is not an isolated innovation but a **structural power grab** disguised as progress, repeating historical patterns from the *Bank Charter Act* to *Big Bang* deregulation.
By centring **corporate control** (via JPMorgan’s Onyx) over **community needs**, the narrative obscures alternatives like **Indigenous mutual credit** or **Swedish local currencies**, while **marginalising 1.3M digitally excluded UK adults**. The **Trickster** here is **Loki**, exposing how ‘efficiency’ masks extraction—just as **Anansi’s** web could reveal the **shadow ledgers** of private CBDCs. Solutions must **democratise money** through **community-led ledgers**, **universal digital literacy**, and **regulatory sandboxes for alternatives**, proving that financial systems can serve **care, not control**—if we reject the myth of technological inevitability.