EUROPE’S DIGITAL MONEY REVOLUTION AND WHY AMERICANS MUST REMAIN VIGILANT
The European Union has taken a step every freedom-minded American should be watching closely. Brussels is calling it modernization and security, but the outcome is unmistakable: a government-designed financial system where cash is capped, crypto is tracked, and everyday transactions become part of a centralized surveillance structure.
In July 2025, the EU launched the new Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA). By 2028 it will hold direct supervisory power over high-risk institutions. And when the broader AML Regulation becomes enforceable in 2027, all member states will operate under a single EU-wide compliance regime.
At the center of this shift is a major change in European financial life:
a €10,000 cash limit for business payments (about $10,800 USD).
Payments between €3,000 and €10,000 (roughly $3,240 to $10,800 USD) require identity verification. Officials say this is about crime prevention, yet no criminal organization relies on legal thresholds. These rules mostly restrict law-abiding citizens and small businesses, shrinking the space where financial privacy once existed.
Crypto is next.
Wire Transfer Regulation II requires identity information for crypto transfers as low as €1,000 (about $1,080 USD). MiCA, the EU’s new crypto framework, adds licensing and compliance requirements across the entire sector. Regulators are already debating whether ESMA should directly supervise all crypto-asset service providers.
Crypto, once a decentralized alternative, is becoming just another regulated channel with surveillance built in.
Europe is also advancing the Digital Euro, a central-bank digital currency targeted for a potential 2029 launch. Officials insist it will not replace cash. They promise privacy. They package it as modernization.
But the ECB’s own analysis shows something very different.
Stress simulations reveal Europeans could move €700 billion — approximately $756 billion USD — into the Digital Euro during a crisis. That kind of migration would hammer banks. To prevent it, the ECB plans personal holding limits, likely between:
€1,500 (about $1,620 USD) and
€3,000 (about $3,240 USD) per person.
A currency with holding limits is not cash.
A currency inside a central ledger is not neutral.
A currency designed with programmable features is not private.
HOW THIS COULD TRANSFORM EVERYDAY AMERICAN LIFE
Europe’s system will not stay in Europe. If it appears to function, even in part, U.S. policymakers will eventually face pressure to consider similar structures.
And that is where the threat hits home.
Imagine buying a lawn mower from your neighbor for $200. Today that transaction is private. Under a digital, identity-linked system similar to the EU’s, it becomes:
• recorded
• linked to both identities
• permanently stored
• potentially taxable
Daily American life would be affected:
Yard Sales and Garage Sales
That $5 box of tools becomes part of a logged digital event.
Marketplace and Craigslist Sales
Used furniture, appliances, tools — all tracked.
Rural Equipment
Trailers, tractors, generators — no longer private sales.
Side Jobs and Handyman Work
A $60 fence repair becomes traceable income.
Kids Earning Money
Mowing lawns or babysitting gets logged as digital income.
Family Support
Helping parents or grandparents financially becomes data points.
Church, Charity and Community
Offerings, raffles, and fundraisers lose anonymity.
Once data is captured, government eventually uses it — whether for taxation, audits, penalties, or broader regulation.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF AMERICAN TAXATION AND HOW IT GREW FAR BEYOND WHAT THE FOUNDERS INTENDED
The United States began with no income tax, no sales tax, and no taxes on private life.
For more than a century, the federal government was funded through tariffs and excise taxes.
The Civil War
A temporary income tax appeared in 1861, then ended in 1872.
1913: The Birth of Permanent Taxation
The federal income tax arrived in 1913 under President Woodrow Wilson after the ratification of the 16th Amendment.
Americans were reassured that it would “only affect the rich.”
Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo promised everyday citizens it would never touch them.
Congress echoed the message:
“Don’t worry. This will never affect ordinary Americans.”
Within a generation, it affected everyone.
The 1930s: State Sales Tax
Sold as temporary. Still here.
1943: Withholding
Workers never again saw their full paychecks before the government took its cut, making tax expansion far easier.
Since then, taxation has spread into:
• income
• sales
• property
• fuel
• digital goods
• used items
• gig work
• online sales
• even yard-sale platforms
The lesson is simple:
Once government gains visibility, it expands authority.
Europe’s Digital Euro provides exactly that kind of visibility.
THE U.S. CBDC SITUATION: WHERE AMERICA STANDS RIGHT NOW
Unlike Europe, the United States has moved in the opposite direction.
On January 23, 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed an executive order prohibiting any federal agency from developing, issuing, or promoting a CBDC. This reversed the Biden administration’s prior digital currency directives and stopped all agency work in progress.
In July 2025, the House passed the CBDC Anti-Surveillance State Act (H.R. 1919). The bill:
• bans the Federal Reserve from issuing a retail CBDC
• prevents a CBDC from being used as a monetary policy tool
• blocks any pilot programs without explicit authorization from Congress
Fed Chair Jerome Powell has reaffirmed that no CBDC will be pursued under his leadership.
The U.S. is now encouraging private stablecoins through legislative support such as the GENIUS Act, signed in July 2025.
But this protection is not permanent.
A single election can reverse every safeguard.
A future administration could restart CBDC research, launch pilot programs, and accelerate the creation of a government-controlled digital wallet system.
This is why Americans must remain watchful:
• Congress changes
• administrations change
• monetary philosophy shifts
• and crises trigger rapid policy decisions
Freedom is not protected once.
It is protected repeatedly.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR AMERICAN SOVEREIGNTY
A government that sees everything can influence anything.
Financial sovereignty is national sovereignty.
And personal financial privacy is a core part of individual liberty.
Europe is building a system where the government becomes the financial gatekeeper.
The United States is resisting — for now.
But nothing in Washington is permanent.
The only real long-term safeguard for the American people is their own vigilance.
Disclaimer:
This editorial represents opinion analysis by The Craig Bushon Show Media Team. All referenced information is drawn from public EU documents, U.S. government statements, Federal Reserve testimony, and global financial regulatory sources. This content is for commentary, public education, and news discussion only.
