In March of 2024, Piero Cipollone, a member of the Executive Board of the European Central Bank (ECB), presented an update on the future of money in the European Union (EU), which was entitled A European Digital Solution for All Occasions. In the presentation, Cipollone reviewed the ECB’s path toward the issuance of a pan-European digital future with a common electronic currency called the Digital Euro.
Over the last several years and in nearly every country around the globe, the development of central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) is rapidly catapulting the world towards a truly cashless financial system. In the EU, the member countries are working with the ECB to develop a common digital currency that could be used throughout Europe. This Digital Euro is scheduled to be rolled out late next year as an adjunct to the traditional payment methods using cash, cards, bank accounts, and other online E-payment systems. This development is a further step in the world’s march toward a cashless society and the eventual mandate by the Final World Empire for everyone to have a personal identifying mark in order to buy and sell. This ID is known in Bible prophecy as the Mark of the Beast and it will characterize the Antichrist’s system of government in the Last Days.
When it’s finally introduced, the Digital Euro will be the latest electronic option for payments throughout the EU and in its member countries, and it’s being promoted as having more capabilities than any other payment method. For instance, compared to cash, cards, or E-payments, the Digital Euro will be used for both online or offline transactions. By contrast, cash can only be used offline, but not online. In addition, cards can only be used online (connected to the Internet), but not offline; and E-payments can only be used online, but not offline. The Digital Euro will be used everywhere and in every situation transactions are done.
When the Digital Euro gets issued, each person in the Eurozone will sign up for their own electronic wallet, which will be funded through their individual bank accounts. The digital wallet will be accessible through computers, smart phones, and smart cards to pay for any transactions. Even person-to-person payments will be possible through secure electronic communications between digital devices.
The electronic wallets for the Digital Euro and other CBDCs will be similar to the electronic wallets found on iPhones and Android phones, but without the direct connection to paper money. Instead of having a paper money equivalent, digital currencies will have only a digital money equivalent which will always be recorded in the electronic bits of computer system databases. In the short-term, digital money might be transferable back into paper money, but this will be discouraged and eventually eliminated.
Even today, getting paper money out of your bank account is becoming more difficult. In the US, you can still go to an ATM and withdraw paper money within certain limits per day, but if you go to a bank teller and want to withdraw more than the normal amount, they might tell you that it’s not possible. In fact, banks simply don’t have the cash reserves onsite anymore to hand out large sums of money. Cash in bank vaults is a huge liability and paper money costs a lot to handle and move around. This is one of the many reasons banking systems want to move to a fully digital currency.
The ECB is also touting the Digital Euro as the only currency that could be used for all transactions: person-to-person, point-of-sale, and online E-commerce payments. All other forms of payments fall short of these capabilities. The ECB says that the Digital Euro will be usable anywhere and in any situation, even in offline person-to-person transactions through the use of smartphone transfers. Even if the phones are temporarily offline, the transactions would be communicated to the banks once the phones are back online to record the digital transfer. Thus, one person can buy something from another person without the need for cash exchanging hands.
The ECB wants to move quickly to implement its new digital monetary policy. The preparation phase for roll-out of the Digital Euro is from November of 2023 to October 2025, in which they will develop a rule-book for handling digital payments and select service providers to implement the digital wallet. Thereafter, the initial introduction is scheduled for roll-out by the end of next year.
The banks see tremendous advantages of the Digital Euro in controlling all monetary transactions. Countries see the advantage of digital currencies in tracking every payment and sale in real time. This means, of course, that every taxing body will extract a percentage of each transaction with immediate financial benefits flowing to each Euro region. At that point, the banks, financial institutions, and governments will have total control over what each person does with their money. No more private sales or hidden payments. Every transfer will be known.
However, after the Digital Euro and other CBDCs are introduced around the world, the problem of data security will become even more paramount. Today, hackers are constantly breaking into the databases of banks, financial institutions, and e-commerce sites and stealing personal data. This results in billions of dollars worth of fraud each year. The problem of maintaining secure transactions and secure accounts won’t go away with the introduction of digital currencies, it will become even more exacerbated.
While cash can be stolen from a person in a robbery, it can never result in identity theft or fraud. The more the world moves toward a cashless, digital economy, the more it is open to massive data breaches and fraud. We are continually hearing of hackers breaking into a company’s systems and stealing customer data. When most transactions are done with the Digital Euro and other CBDCs, this problem will become acute.
The answer to this issue is to a create foolproof identity system so that even if a data breach occurs, it can’t be used to commit fraud. How would this be possible? The Bible predicts that it will be done through three identifying factors: a person’s name, an account number given to them, and a mark on their bodies. This is what the Book of Revelation says concerning what the Antichrist will do:
And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.
Revelation 13:16-18
The Mark of the Beast is predicted to be one of three identifying factors that the Final World Empire will use to identify every person under its control. Their name is given at birth, but alone it could be used fraudulently by anyone. Their number is the secure account number given by the issuing authorities in every country or region where the CBDCs are used (in the Empire of the Antichrist, all CBDCs will be consolidated into one global network). Of course, the account number also can be stolen and used with a person’s name to commit fraud.
However, to overcome these problems, the Antichrist will implement one additional factor that will secure every digital currency and prevent fraud: a unique identifying physical mark placed on each person on their right hand or forehead.
The combination of a person’s name, number, and mark will securely identify each person and allow their participation in the Final World Empire while eliminating fraud. It also seems likely that the Mark will be accompanied by a digital scan of the person’s biometric characteristics of their right hand or face (or eyes) to completely verify their identity. It is not surprising that biometric scanning is standardizing on the hand and face as the most secure sites of verification.
All of these things are happening to fulfill Bible prophecy for the End Times. The prophecies that are coming true in our generation are proof of the soon Return of Christ. If you can believe God because of the fulfillment of prophecy, then also believe in His Son, Jesus, for the forgiveness of sins. The Bible says that all those who believe in the Son of God will be given the gift of eternal life. Believe today for the forgiveness of sins and the salvation of your soul!
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