Katherine Austin Fitts on The Stablecoin Control Grid
The control grid is a present reality under construction. The pieces, digital ID, cashless transactions, privatized stablecoins, and AI-driven data aggregation, are converging rapidly. The design is elegant, even clever. But the elegance of the architecture does not make it benign.
Katherine Austin Fitts recently was hosted by Financial Wise and discussed Stablecoins in the context of a larger issue: a “Control Grid”. This was interesting as “enjoyers” of Katherine’s approach to the geopolitics of Bank-Plumbing.
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GoldFix broke that video down for readers below. Also find a complete transcript to accompany the included the 2 video’s used at bottom as well.
Contents
- Intro
- Real ID and the Infrastructure of Control
- The Genius Act and the Rise of Bank-Issued Stablecoins
- Privatized Systems With Public Consequences
- AI: Data Integration creates Social Credit
- The Trump Paradox
- Closing Observation
- Videos With Transcript
IntroKatherine Austin Fitts begins with an anecdote that encapsulates her thesis: at a protest, someone told her they did not care how many people marched “as long as they had Citibank credit cards in their back pockets.” The logic, she explains, is simple…traceability equals control. As long as the financial system retains access to citizens’ data and transaction flows, freedom of movement or expression becomes performative. What matters to power is not protest but participation in a system designed to record, categorize, and ultimately constrain.
“As long as you’re giving me all your data and your money,” she quotes, “and I control both—what do I care if you walk up and down?”
This premise becomes the foundation of Fitts’ broader argument: that digital finance, digital identification, and the architecture of compliance are converging into a single “control grid,” and that the Trump-era policy trajectory—particularly Real ID, stablecoin legislation, and privatized data integration—accelerates rather than resists it.
Real ID and the Infrastructure of ControlAccording to Fitts, the first building block of this control architecture is the Real ID system. She describes it as a “high-quality precision national ID that’s interoperable with all the other IDs around the world.” While administered at the state level, it is, in her view, federally driven. She cites South Dakota governor Kristi Noem’s aggressive push for implementation as a sign of coordination from above.
For a digital control system to function, Fitts argues, two conditions must be met:
- A universal digital ID, linking individuals to every transaction and institution.
- A fully digital financial system, eliminating the anonymity of cash and forcing all exchanges into trackable networks.
Trump’s administration, she notes, advanced both. Through Treasury and IRS digitization initiatives—such as requiring digital tax payments and ending certain paper-based procedures—the federal government is standardizing digital interaction.
The Genius Act and the Rise of Bank-Issued StablecoinsFitts then turns to what she calls the most underappreciated piece of the puzzle: the Genius Act, a proposed framework for bank-issued stablecoins.
In traditional form, a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) would be issued directly by the Federal Reserve, under Congressional jurisdiction. The Genius Act, by contrast, delegates issuance to private subsidiaries of member banks—institutions like Citibank or JPMorgan—who already own the New York Federal Reserve.
This structure, she claims, effectively privatizes digital money creation:
“Under the Genius Act, the guys who own the New York Fed are all going to create subsidiaries and issue stablecoins which will be interoperable with a social credit system.”
By routing issuance through these private entities, Fitts argues, the architecture sidesteps Congressional oversight. The result is a “freer,” but less accountable, digital system.
She draws a comparison to the infamous “pallets of cash” sent to Iraq after 2003—only this time, it’s digital. Each stablecoin is backed by U.S. Treasuries or dollars, creating what she calls a “massive new market for Treasury debt.” Banks issue the coins, collateralized by T-bills, and distribute them through global payment rails like Apple Pay and Google Pay. The aim, she warns, is to internationalize the dollar’s reach by “tempting the global population off their local currencies and onto stablecoins.”
“You’re literally going to tent for the global population—get everyone off their local currency and onto stablecoins.”
Privatized Systems With Public ConsequencesFitts stresses that this process extends beyond monetary policy. It fuses identity, finance, and surveillance into an interoperable data system. The real innovation, in her view, is privatization of enforcement and oversight.
Under the Genius Act model, the same financial institutions that govern the New York Fed would operate stablecoin networks privately, linked to private AI and data-analysis firms. The jurisdictional shield of private ownership, she warns, reduces accountability while expanding control.
This framework, she says, is not hypothetical. It dovetails with ongoing aggregation of social and financial data into private intelligence platforms such as Palantir and XAI, both of which hold or have held contracts with the U.S. Treasury and IRS.
AI: Data Integration Creates Social Credit RulesWhen asked to elaborate, Fitts connects the financial grid to what she calls the “data beast.” She argues that massive federal datasets—Social Security, IRS, Treasury payment systems—have long been siloed by privacy laws, but recent developments point toward desiloing and privatization.
If those datasets are merged with AI systems under private control, she argues, they could form the basis of an American social credit system.
“If I wanted to build a social credit system that can be used to enforce control against the American people, I’d aggregate Social Security, IRS, and Treasury payment data—and that’s exactly what they did.”
This consolidation, when combined with healthcare data aggregation by corporate and philanthropic intermediaries, produces an unprecedented degree of behavioral visibility. The result is an economic enforcement mechanism—the financialization of citizenship itself.
The Trump ParadoxFitts concludes with a paradoxical assessment: although many view Trump as anti-establishment, his policies have in effect accelerated the construction of the very control apparatus his base claims to resist.
She does not frame him as malicious but as “in a box.” His administration’s efficiency in digitization, combined with Elon Musk’s parallel AI and payment infrastructure, is—intentionally or not—building the system that central planners envisioned all along.
“I judge people by what they’re doing, and what I see is Trump and Musk implementing the control grid at high speed.”
Closing ObservationFor Fitts, the control grid is a present reality under construction. The pieces, digital ID, cashless transactions, privatized stablecoins, and AI-driven data aggregation, are converging rapidly. The design is elegant, she concedes, even clever. But the elegance of the architecture does not make it benign.
 Transcript
Speaker 1:
There was a big protest, and one of the guys said to me, “Look, as long as they have Citibank credit cards in the back of their pocket, I don’t care if they walk up and down.” Why? Because that’s traceable, right? They’re tracking. Well, as long as you’re giving me all your data and your money, and I control both your money and your data—what do I care if you walk up and down?Speaker 2:
But isn’t Trump super pro-Bitcoin? I mean, this current administration—at least when Trump was running—he was very pro-Bitcoin.Speaker 1:
Trump was put in by the bankers to get the control grid up. The other team in the uniparty wasn’t moving fast enough; they couldn’t get the control grid built. I knew it. I sent you a link. We just did a new collection of all the things Trump is doing to move the control grid forward. He’s moving very, very fast. First, he’s getting Real ID implemented very aggressively. To build a control grid, you need a high-quality, precision national ID that’s interoperable with all the other IDs around the world. He’s got Kristi Noem out there pushing Real ID like there’s no tomorrow. It’s done through the states, but the feds are pushing it.The first thing you need is a digital ID. The second thing is an all-digital financial system. You have to kill cash and make everyone interact digitally. Look at what he’s doing with taxes and Social Security—he’s trying to make everyone digital. He canceled pennies, and now he’s canceling paper tax payments. He’s saying, “No, you’ve got to do everything digital.” It’s not this year, but next year.If you go through that list—I’ve got fifty different items—he’s building it. Look at what they’re doing with the Genius Act and stablecoins. He said, “No CBDCs, but stablecoins.” The Genius Act is the new plan for stablecoins.A CBDC would be issued by the Federal Reserve, presumably the New York Fed and its member banks. Those member banks—Citibank, JPMorgan—own and govern the New York Fed. The New York Fed is the depository for the Treasury, and those banks act as its agents. Under the Genius Act, the same people who own the New York Fed will create subsidiaries and issue stablecoins interoperable with a social credit system.Here’s the beauty of it: the New York Fed has obligations to Congress, and Congress has jurisdiction. But if you do it through the Fed’s private owners—through their subsidiaries—you get more freedom.Speaker 2:
Oh my God.Speaker 1:
Yeah. So if you think this is an improvement, think again. What they’re planning with stablecoins is, from a financial standpoint, clever. Remember the pallets of cash sent to Iraq? This will be the digital equivalent. Stablecoins are just bank deposits or Treasury bills—fully collateralized by dollars. You put in a dollar, you get a dollar-backed coin. These will create a massive market for Treasury bills and bonds.The bank subsidiaries will issue the coins, fully collateralized, and then send them out via Google Pay, Apple Pay, and all digital wallets. People from Bolivia to South Korea could use stablecoins. You’re going to tempt the global population to move off their local currencies into dollar-backed stablecoins. They’ll pump out massive amounts of private credit to make it attractive—hand out money and get everyone on the dollar.Speaker 2:
And you don’t think the BRICS would compete with this?Speaker 1:
Of course, they would.Speaker 2:
And do you think this could actually be implemented? How soon?Speaker 1:
As soon as the Genius Act passes, it can move very fast.Speaker 2:
Where are we now with that bill?Speaker 1:
I assume it’ll pass soon. If it doesn’t pass before the session breaks, it’ll likely pass in the fall. You could really see the world rock after that.Speaker 2:
Is Trump aware of all this? What’s his motive? Is he just a useful idiot here?Speaker 1:
I don’t know Trump personally. I lived in New York for eleven years, and our PR firm worked with his. Everything I know about him comes from Howard Rubenstein and company. Anyway, I think Trump is in a box. I judge people by what they do, and what I see is Trump and Musk implementing the control grid at high speed.Don’t take my word for it—look at the list. To build a control grid, you need a high-precision digital ID (check), an all-digital financial system (check), interoperable money (check), and a social credit system (check).Speaker 2:
Wait—what do you mean by that? What’s Doge doing?Speaker 1:
From what I can tell, and from what I’ve read in Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and Wired—which has documented this well—they’ve basically built the infrastructure for control.If I wanted to stop fraud in the U.S. government, I’d investigate where the $20 trillion missing from DoD and the $1 trillion from HUD went, and get it back. That’s not what they did. If I wanted to build a social credit system to control Americans, I’d aggregate Social Security, IRS, and Treasury payment data—and that’s exactly what they did.Then I’d privatize it—put it into private AI systems like XAI and Palantir AI. If Palantir still holds the Treasury and IRS contracts, they have everyone. Add in Kennedy’s healthcare data aggregation, and now they’ve combined all personal data into one system. They’ve been aggregating data like this since the 1990s—I used to call it “the data beast.”They’re combining IRS data, healthcare data, and more into one AI-driven system. The federal government used to silo that data for privacy, but now it’s being unsiloed and privatized. That’s my conjecture, but if I wanted to build a control grid, that’s exactly what I’d do.
The 2 Hour Version 
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