WEF 'Global Leader for Tomorrow' turned whistleblower, economist Prof. Richard Werner: "CBDCs will facilitate a completely totalitarian system of such frightening proportions, it's hard to imagine".

"Sometimes when you want to spend, they'll decide this is no good because... your carbon footprint is too big or you've eaten too much beef, or whatever it may be."

"We are talking about essentially some kind of social credit scoring or other similar system. And really, it's not your money anymore."

"The push for CBDCs is the final step in a multi-decade program by central planners to increase their power over the people."

"Even the worst dictators in past centuries could only have dreamt of having such enormous power over the lives of so many people."

"We are talking about a very dystopian future if we allow central banks to issue central bank digital currencies."

Central bank digital currency (CBDC) is programmable currency. This means that it can be programmed to have certain features or restrictions, such as expiration dates, specific usage conditions, or even negative interest rates. This programmability allows central banks to have greater control over the currency and its usage, which is one of the reasons why it's viewed with skepticism by advocates of financial privacy and freedom.