Most of us assume we’re already living in a world of digital money.
Between credit cards, Apple Pay, Bizum, Venmo, and bank transfers, money already feels instant, borderless, and paperless.
So when people hear about Central Bank Digital Currencies, CBDCs, they often shrug:
“Isn’t that just more of the same?” It’s not.
And that confusion could be one of the most dangerous blind spots of our time.
Digital ≠ Programmable
What we use today, credit cards, mobile wallets, neobanks, is digitized access to traditional money. It moves through banks and private institutions, governed by existing rules, with privacy and control varying depending on provider and jurisdiction.
But CBDCs are different at their core.
They are digital currencies issued directly by central banks, and they are programmable by design.
You may know them by their marketing names: “Digital Euro,” “Digital Dollar,” “Digital Pound,” “Digital Yuan.” But make no mistake, these are CBDCs. And that means they can be coded with rules.
Rules not just about how money is created or tracked, but how it can be used, when, where, and even by whom.
This isn’t a future concept. It’s already being tested.
In countries like China, Nigeria, and India, and soon EU by the end of 2025, CBDC pilots include features like:
- Money that expires if not spent in time
- Geographic restrictions on where funds can be used
- Purchase limitations based on categories
- Automatic stimulus spending or targeted subsidies
- Real-time tax deduction at the point of transaction
On paper, these functions can seem efficient or even helpful to manage the economy.
In practice, they create a direct line of control between the issuer of money and the behavior of the user.
From Influence to Enforcement
Today, governments influence economic behavior through indirect levers, like adjusting interest rates to encourage or discourage spending. That influence still leaves people with choice.
With CBDCs, that model changes.
Instead of nudging behavior, central authorities can now impose it (instantly and automatically) through programmable constraints.
Imagine money that works only on certain goods.
Or that stops working if not used quickly enough.
Or that disappears when you travel beyond a defined zone.
Now imagine that system becoming the default… and physical cash disappearing faster every day.
It’s not a conspiracy. It’s a trajectory.
And we’re already on it.
This Affects Everyone
It’s tempting to think this only impacts the “financially vulnerable” or those under authoritarian regimes.
But here’s the reality: every person, no matter their role, rank, or beliefs, is also a user of money.
That includes regulators, policymakers, and developers, those designing and implementing these systems; on the other side of the screen, they are still just human beings. People who will live under the very same risks the rest of us do.
There’s Still Time to Choose
This isn’t about rejecting technology.
It’s about asking the right questions as we build it.
Who defines the rules of programmable money?
Who gets to audit the code?
Who is accountable when that code is abused?
There’s nothing inherently wrong with digital currency.
But there is something deeply wrong with a world where all money is programmable, and only a few people hold the remote.
The future of money isn’t just a technical question.
It’s a human one.
And understanding that now is still our best chance to protect what matters most: freedom, privacy, and the ability to choose.
