"Programmable Money Should Frighten You," Says Layah Heilpern
In an interview with the British news outlet GB News on August 19, Heilpern, who also released 'Undressing Bitcoin: A Revealing Manual To The World's Most Innovative Asset in September 2021,' stated that the pervasive implementation of a CBDC by individual nations is on the way and that this might result in monetary censorship of citizens eventually.
"CBDCs May Be Programmed Against You"
According to Heilpern, because CBDCs are effectively programmable coins that operate on blockchains, they may be "programmed against you" at the inclinations of the centralized authority controlling them.
"If for whatever reason you say the wrong thing, because you know we’re seeing censorship increasing, then that money can essentially be programmed to be used against you."
While many people may find this thought "very odd," Heilpern says it is highly possible given the limitations that governments have imposed on unvaccinated individuals:
"With a CBDC, all the government has to do really is a program that money so you can't spend it on certain things."
Twitter Post Followed Up On The Interview
"Central Bank Digital Currencies will be marketed as better for the environment and the solution to inflation. It's a lie. Money is the energy that fuels your life, so programmable money should terrify you."
Importantly, similar fears about financial censorship have been particularly apparent with cryptocurrency recently, as seen by the latest Tornado Cash episode, which saw the US Treasury blacklist ETH and USDC addresses related to the Ethereum-based encryption tool.