Global central bank digital currency (CBDC) efforts are threatening to give financial institutions more control over the money supply and personal savings, as the transatlantic divide between the US and Europe widens in terms of financial technology.
CBDCs are digital versions of fiat money issued on a permissioned, private blockchain, usually controlled by a central bank, as opposed to decentralized blockchain networks.
“Not all digital currencies are the same,” said Susie Violet Ward, financial analyst, co-founder and CEO of think tank Bitcoin Policy UK, warning that CBDCs represent the “weaponization of money in its purest form.”
This new form of programmable money threatens increased central bank control over spending, including a potential “expiry date” on personal savings, Ward said during Cointelegraph’s Chain Reaction daily X spaces show on Thursday, adding:
“They’ll be able to control everything you do through money.”
“Even George Orwell did not predict that programmable money might come into this. That almost closes the 1984 loop perfectly,” she added, referring to Orwell’s dystopian novel, which depicts a world where an oppressive central government controls major aspects of human life, including public opinion and free speech.
Escaping the Death of Privacy with Bitcoin #CHAINREACTION https://t.co/nNncxdfFaj
— Cointelegraph (@Cointelegraph) August 21, 2025
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Europe pushes ahead with digital euro after Trump bans US CBDC
The transatlantic divide between Europe and the US is growing, with the former pushing ahead with digital euro plans while the latter is doubling down on stablecoin innovation and banning the creation of CBDCs.
On Friday, the US House added a provision banning the Federal Reserve from issuing a CBDC into an almost 1,300-page bill setting the country’s defense policy for the 2026 fiscal year, Cointelegraph reported.
The provision in the defense policy bill would ban the Fed from issuing any digital currency or asset and stop the central bank from offering financial products or services directly to individuals.
The House passed a similar Republican-backed bill, the Anti-CBDC Surveillance State Act, in July with a slim majority of 219 to 210, which is now awaiting a Senate vote.
On Jan. 23, US President Donald Trump signed an executive order that prohibits the establishment, issuance, circulation or use of CBDCs, citing concerns over their potential to threaten financial system stability, individual privacy and national sovereignty.
Related: Trump’s executive order a ’game-changer’ for institutional crypto adoption
Still, the European Union is pushing ahead with its digital euro plans, reportedly exploring major public blockchains like Ethereum for its CBDC, rather than a private one, where data is limited to authorized entities.
The digital euro is expected to roll out in October 2025, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said during a news conference, emphasizing that the CBDC will coexist with cash and offer privacy protections to address government overreach concerns.
While CBDCs have been praised for their potential to increase financial inclusion, critics have raised concerns about their surveillance capabilities.
In July 2023, Brazil’s central bank published the source code for its CBDC pilot, and it took just four days for people to notice the surveillance and control mechanisms embedded within its code, allowing the central bank to freeze or reduce user funds within CBDC wallets.
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