The Real Danger of Central Bank Digital Currencies Isn’t Surveillance.
It’s the "Redefinition of Ownership".
Most people think the problem with CBDCs is that governments will “watch” how you spend money.
That’s not new.
Governments have monitored money flows for decades through banks, taxes, reporting requirements, and compliance rules.
That’s not the shift.
The real shift is programmability.
Historically, money was neutral.
Yes, it could be taxed.
Yes, it could be seized.
Yes, it could be inflated away.
But once you had it, it was yours.
You decided when to spend it.
Where to spend it.
How to save it.
Programmable money changes that.
A CBDC allows money to:
• Expire if not spent
• Be restricted by category
• Be limited by location
• Be approved or denied in real time
And here’s how it will be sold to the public:
“To prevent fraud.”
“To control inflation.”
“To enforce sanctions.”
“To manage emergencies.”
All reasonable.
All defensible.
Until they aren’t.
This is the subtle but profound shift most people miss:
Money stops being property and becomes access.
Property is a right.
Access is a permission.
Permissions can be revoked.
Rules can be changed.
Conditions can be added.
Once money operates on rules instead of rights, participation in the economy becomes conditional.
Not dramatic.
Not dystopian.
Administrative.
History shows how this always unfolds:
Emergency powers expand the fastest.
Temporary measures quietly become permanent.
Systems built for crises never fully disappear.
CBDCs don’t require tyranny to be dangerous.
They only require incentives.
And incentives always change.
That’s why sophisticated capital doesn’t argue politics.
It hedges systems.
It diversifies jurisdiction, not just assets.
Not because collapse is guaranteed.
Not because catastrophe is imminent.
But because concentrated control has the same ending every time.
The issue isn’t fear.
The issue is understanding what ownership really means —
before it quietly becomes something else.
#centralbank #DigitalCurrency #bitcoin #Ethereum #USDT $BTC $ETH