Monopoly of Currency Power and Wealth Concentration under the Monetization of Wealth: With a Discussion on the Impact of the Central Bank Digital Currency System

The contemporary monetization of wealth intensifies the alienation in which “money obscures real labor relations”. The credit-based U. S. dollar system siphons global wealth internationally and exacerbates class polarization domestically through the U. S. “dollar-Treasury bond” circulation. Meanwhile, the decentralization narrative of cryptocurrencies fails to break free from the discipline of capitalist production relations and instead degenerates into a new form of monopoly. Based on historical materialism, our study proceeds along the thread of “laws of historical evolution-analysis of contemporary contradictions-future technological innovation”. Firstly, we sort out the evolutionary logic of wealth from products and commodities to money and capital, and reveal how the credit system has become a remedial mechanism for capitalist wealth accumulation. Secondly, we deconstruct the “center-periphery” order of the U. S. dollar system and its crises across institutional, technological, and geopolitical dimensions, while analyzing the class nature of concentrated currency power and the paradox of cryptocurrencies. Finally, we explore the potential of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) to restructure currency power, examine the bottlenecks in global CBDC practices, and assess the impact of the U. S. policy shift. We argue that CBDCs provide a viable path to break the private monopoly of currency power. Accordingly, we propose a socialist CBDC governance path: leveraging public ownership to lead infrastructure development, using technology to empower common prosperity, and promoting multilateral cooperation to break the U. S. dollar pricing monopoly. This path aims to provide a solution for global digital currency governance in the blockchain era that combines socialist attributes with practical value.