(
Central
Bank
Digital
Currency) Electronic money that is issued and regulated by a government. A CBDC enables people to pay in "digital cash" like a debit card. A blockchain, the crypto architecture, is commonly used to create a CBDC because blockchains are pre-built digital money systems. If a blockchain is used, the CBDC is a "permissioned blockchain," whereby participants must be granted permission from the country's central bank to join. This is contrary to the decentralized nature of crypto (see
blockchain).
Can a CBDC Watch You?
Absolutely, and for countries that surveil its people, the CBDC is the perfect system. When every transaction is monitored by a single information system, it is easy to keep track of an entire country. Surveillance can help a community find the bad guys, but when authoritarians use it, it is the perfect vehicle for ensuring compliance with the state.
CBDCs Are Coming on Strong
As of 2026, more than 100 countries are in advanced stages of exploration and deployment, but the U.S. stopped all development (see
Project Hamilton). China has the largest CBDC globally (see
digital yuan). See
digital dollar and
spyware currency.