“Presidents are selected, not elected — and none of them control the rails beneath the monetary system.” – often attributed to FDR
The Comforting Belief
In times of upheaval, people reach for the belief that elections can reset the course. That if the “right candidate” wins, inflation will ease, freedom will return, and financial stability will be restored.
It’s comforting because it suggests control is still in the hands of the people. But it’s also false.
The architecture of the global monetary reset is supranational, multi-decade, and deeply institutional. It doesn’t pause for elections. It doesn’t care who’s in office.
Do U.S. Presidents Control the Financial Reset?
No.
They shape rhetoric, appoint regulators, and sign executive orders. But the machinery is built and run by unelected institutions and permanent bureaucracies.
- Obama Era (2008–2016):
- Ripple’s early bank partnerships began.
- First serious regulatory discussions about digital assets surfaced.
- Trump Era (2016–2020):
- Publicly positioned as anti-globalist, anti-CBDC.
- Behind the scenes: FedNow development began, OCC authorized banks to custody crypto (2020).
- Biden Era (2021–2025):
- Issued the 2022 Executive Order on Digital Assets, aligning U.S. policy with IMF/BIS standards.
- FedNow launched in July 2023.
- SEC pursued lawsuits against Ripple and Coinbase, creating regulatory choke points while the rails were built.
Different optics. Same outcome.
Who Actually Builds the System
Presidents and parties don’t set the rails — they inherit them. The real blueprint is laid out by:
| Role | Entity | Influence |
|---|---|---|
| Policy Blueprint | BIS, IMF, WEF | Global standards, architecture, narrative |
| Execution | Central banks (Fed, ECB, BOE, PBoC) | Build CBDCs, adopt ISO 20022 |
| Engineering | Ripple, Stellar, ConsenSys, IBM | Develop the rails and tokenized systems |
| Capital Capture | BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street | Direct liquidity, shape regulation |
| Governance Shadow | Legacy families, sovereign funds | Long-term capital, private influence |
Elections shuffle the faces on stage. The stage itself doesn’t move.
The Illusion of Choice
Both parties are complicit because neither controls the supranational architecture.
- FedNow under Trump.
- Executive Orders under Biden.
- RippleNet deals under Obama.
- MIT’s Project Hamilton continuing across all three.
The system isn’t partisan. It’s post-political. That’s why debates about red vs blue are a distraction. The rails are already chosen. The standards already signed. The BIS isn’t waiting for election results.
My Reflection
When I finally accepted that elections don’t alter the trajectory, I felt both clarity and unease. Clarity, because I stopped wasting energy on the illusion of political saviors. Unease, because it confirmed how deeply entrenched the system already is.
This doesn’t mean politics is irrelevant — laws still matter, regulation shapes adoption. But whether you vote red or blue, the rails remain the same.
Key Takeaway
The financial reset doesn’t belong to Republicans or Democrats. It belongs to the technocrats, supranational bodies, and infrastructure builders who operate above party lines.
Presidents may change the slogans. But the code is already written.