Central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, are government-backed digital currencies issued by a central bank. They're being rapidly rolled out to bring about a new economic transaction system that could lead to a new form of modern-day slavery.

CBDCs are promoted as digital tokens that can simplify monetary policy and bring about convenient cashless societies. They're also sometimes said to be similar to cryptocurrency1 due to their digital nature, but there are important, and major, distinctions.

While cryptocurrencies are decentralized and allow anonymous transactions, CBDCs are centralized and can track every transaction. They can also be controlled by the powers that be — meaning all your CBDC assets could be taken away or turned off by a central power, and there'd be nothing you could do about it.