Imagine a world where every dollar you spend is tracked. Every transaction logged. Every purchase analyzed.
Imagine the government knowing exactly how much you make, where you spend it, and what you buy — in real time, without warrants, without asking.
Now imagine they can freeze your account with the push of a button. No court order. No due process. Just a bureaucrat somewhere deciding you’ve done something wrong — or said something wrong — and suddenly your money doesn’t work anymore.
That’s not a dystopian novel. That’s what Central Bank Digital Currencies are designed to do. And according to billionaire hedge fund manager Ray Dalio, they’re coming whether we like it or not.
The Tucker Interview
Dalio sat down with Tucker Carlson this week and laid out the CBDC threat in terms that should make every American pay attention.
“There will be no privacy,” Dalio said flatly. “All transactions done with digital currencies will be known.”
No privacy. Every transaction known. Let that sink in.
He continued: “The government has a great deal of control. For example, they can tax that way. They can take your money. They can establish foreign exchange controls.”
This isn’t speculation. This isn’t conspiracy theory. This is one of the most successful investors in the world — a man who built Bridgewater Associates into the largest hedge fund on the planet — explaining exactly what CBDCs are designed to enable.
Total financial surveillance. Total government control. The end of financial privacy as we know it.
The “Convenience” Trap
Dalio acknowledged that CBDCs have appeal. They’re easy to use. Transactions are instant. No more waiting for bank transfers or dealing with cash.
“There’s a great deal of appeal because of the fact that it’s easy,” he said.
This is how every freedom-killing technology gets sold. Convenience. Ease of use. Making your life simpler.
Social media was convenient too. Now we know it’s a surveillance apparatus that tracks your location, monitors your communications, and sells your data to the highest bidder.
Smartphones were convenient. Now they’re tracking devices that know where you are every second of every day.
Digital payments were convenient. Now every credit card purchase creates a record that can be subpoenaed, analyzed, and used against you.
CBDCs are the final step. Once your money is digital — truly digital, not just numbers in a bank account but actual government-issued digital currency — the surveillance is complete. There’s nowhere left to hide.
The Political Weapon
Tucker Carlson raised the point that should terrify anyone paying attention: CBDCs could be used to “shut off” people for purely political reasons.
Dalio agreed.
Think about what that means. You post something the government doesn’t like on social media. You donate to a candidate the regime opposes. You attend a protest. You buy a book that’s been flagged. You say something that violates whatever speech code is fashionable that month.
And suddenly your money doesn’t work.
Not frozen by a court order after due process. Not seized pursuant to a criminal conviction. Just… turned off. Because someone in power decided you needed to be punished.
We already saw a preview of this in Canada during the trucker convoy protests. The Trudeau government froze bank accounts of protesters and their donors. People who had committed no crime found their financial lives destroyed because they supported the wrong cause.
That was clumsy — it required government intervention with private banks. CBDCs would make it seamless. Instant. Invisible. One database entry and you’re financially dead.
The International Dimension
Dalio raised another concern that doesn’t get enough attention: foreign holders of CBDC-based currencies would be at the mercy of the issuing government.
“If you’re a Frenchman and they wanted to have sanctions, they could take your money,” he explained.
This cuts both ways. A digital dollar controlled by the U.S. government could be weaponized against foreign nationals at will. But it also means that any American holding digital currency issued by a foreign government would be subject to that government’s control.
China is already piloting its digital yuan. The European Central Bank is developing a digital euro. Russia and others are working on their own versions.
The future of money isn’t just about convenience. It’s about geopolitical control. Whoever controls the digital currency controls everyone who uses it.
The Trump Firewall
Here’s the good news: President Trump saw this coming and did something about it.
In January 2025, Trump signed an executive order barring federal agencies from establishing, issuing, or circulating CBDCs. The order explicitly states that CBDCs “threaten the stability of the financial system, individual privacy, and the sovereignty of the United States.”
That’s the clearest statement any major world leader has made against the CBDC threat. And it’s backed by action — Trump nominated Kevin Warsh to replace Jerome Powell at the Federal Reserve, signaling that the Fed’s digital currency experiments are over.
For now, Americans are protected. But that protection is only as durable as the next election. A future administration — particularly a Democratic one eager to implement progressive financial policies — could reverse course instantly.
The infrastructure for digital currency is being built. The technology exists. The only thing standing between Americans and total financial surveillance is political will.
The “It Won’t Be That Big” Cope
Dalio, perhaps trying to reassure his audience, suggested that CBDCs might not become “that big of a deal” because of the privacy concerns involved.
“I don’t think that you’re going to see the development of central bank digital currencies to be of a magnitude that it’s going to be that big of a deal,” he said. “I think that doesn’t mean it won’t grow, but I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal.”
With respect to one of the smartest financial minds on the planet, I think he’s wrong.
Governments don’t build surveillance infrastructure and then not use it. They don’t create tools of control and then show restraint. Every power that can be abused will be abused, given enough time and the right crisis.
The pandemic proved it. Governments around the world implemented tracking systems, vaccine passports, and movement restrictions that would have been unthinkable in 2019. They did it in weeks. And many of those systems are still in place.
CBDCs are the financial version of that playbook. Build the infrastructure during normal times. Activate it during a crisis. And never give up the power once it’s been exercised.
What You Can Do
This is where I’m supposed to say something hopeful. Something about how we can stop this if we just stay vigilant.
Here’s the truth: the best protection against CBDCs is to not need them.
Hold physical cash when possible. Keep some savings in forms that don’t require government permission to access — precious metals, for instance. Support politicians who explicitly oppose digital currency. And make noise every time some technocrat floats the idea of “modernizing” our monetary system.
The elites want a world where every transaction is monitored, every purchase is tracked, and every person’s financial life can be controlled with a keystroke.
The only thing stopping them is people who refuse to go along.
Ray Dalio just told you what’s coming. Whether it actually arrives is up to us.
The Bottom Line
Central Bank Digital Currencies aren’t about convenience. They aren’t about fighting crime. They aren’t about “modernizing” the financial system.
They’re about control. Total, comprehensive, inescapable control over every dollar you earn, save, or spend.
Ray Dalio knows it. Tucker Carlson knows it. Donald Trump knows it — which is why he banned them.
The question is whether enough Americans understand the threat before it’s too late to stop it.
Because once the surveillance infrastructure is built, once the digital currency is issued, once the “convenience” is baked into daily life — there’s no going back.
Your money becomes their money. Your transactions become their data. Your financial freedom becomes their permission.
That’s the future CBDCs promise. And anyone telling you different is either naive or lying.