For more than a year, the European Union and the European Central Bank have been developing a retail and wholesale Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) known as the digital euro. It has been promoted as a more efficient means of transacting commerce and settling accounts. Some even argue that it will provide billions of unbanked people with access to digital money.

One frequent concern of CBDCs is the lack of privacy and the possibility of using it for surveillance. This would allow central banks and the government to track and monitor every transaction. The government would know even more about you, your family, your clients, and your charities.

Another significant concern is the fact that CBDCs would make it easier for governments to freeze your financial resources. If the current government disagreed with your purchases, they would have the power to shut down your digital currency.

In fact, these CBDCs could be programmed to prohibit people from buying certain goods or at least place a limit on how much they might purchase. It might also have a limit that would require the digital money to be used before it expired. The expiration dates and the bans on specific purchases and the ability to freeze accounts could be used to punish or censor citizens.

A few years ago, President Joe Biden signed an executive order encouraging the Federal Reserve to study the feasibility of digital currency. When he took office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that banned government agencies from taking any action to create or promote a CBDC.

Unfortunately, attempts to write this into law have not been successful. That is why we need to continue to evaluate what is being done by our government.