Flourish Health & Wellbeing eMag - Latest Edition - Flipbook - Page 42
The Cons:
Privacy Concerns and
Government Control
Despite the poten琀椀al bene昀椀ts,
CBDCs also come with big concerns,
par琀椀cularly around privacy and
government surveillance.
1. Could Governments Track
Every Transaction?
One of the biggest worries is that
CBDCs could allow governments to
monitor every 昀椀nancial transac琀椀on.
Unlike cash, which is anonymous,
digital money leaves a trace.
For some, this raises red 昀氀ags about
personal freedom and 昀椀nancial
privacy. Would governments use
this data to control spending or
impose restric琀椀ons?
2. Potential for Negative Interest
Rates & Expiry Dates
Because CBDCs are fully digital,
central banks could introduce
expiry dates on money (forcing
people to spend within a certain
琀椀meframe) or nega琀椀ve interest
rates (reducing savings value to
encourage spending).
This level of control could be
good for stabilising economies
but bad for personal 昀椀nancial
freedom.
3. Will Cash Disappear?
If CBDCs become mainstream,
will governments phase out
physical cash altogether? This
could be a big issue for people
who rely on cash for privacy or those
without access to digital banking
