Time to prepare

One thing is certain: the asset register is coming, but it goes by a different name!

The EU and the UK are at the forefront when it comes to the disclosure of their citizens' assets; citizens are facing increasing scrutiny. At the same time, it has become standard practice to question any type of transaction on the grounds of suspected money laundering. It does not matter whether you have never been in conflict with the law or not. Consequently, states and their institutions seek to gain access to your assets and wealth—unless these are already in digital form and thus programmable for the future. "Programmable" means that currencies and your digital assets (such as those held by banks) are yours to use only if you deploy them for purposes strictly defined by your country of residence. This could manifest as limited validity periods, regional access restrictions, or the automatic application of negative interest rates.

For example: your digital money and assets might only be authorized for generating returns or making withdrawals if you carry out—or can demonstrate—specific actions deemed desirable for the economy.

Concrete examples:

China compels and encourages its citizens to exchange cash for the Chinese state’s digital cryptocurrency. At the same time, the possession and trading of other cryptocurrencies—such as Bitcoin—are prohibited and punishable by law.

In India, the introduction of a new currency led to the starvation of many poorer citizens who lacked the accounts necessary for digital exchange or access to funds.

In Cyprus, funds belonging to customers who held more than €100,000 in bank deposits on a specific cut-off date—thereby exceeding the state-guaranteed deposit protection limit—were cut in half.

In Europe, the ECB has collected well over €40 billion in negative interest from commercial banks since 2014—amounting to roughly €7.5 billion annually. The banks, in turn, offset this loss by raising custody fees for deposits, effectively passing the cost on to their customers.

In the EU, under the pretext of combating child abuse, all messaging services (such as WhatsApp) are subject to surveillance and data scanning as of August 2, 2026. Furthermore, since March 1, 2026, the new Anti-Money Laundering Reporting Ordinance (GwGMeldV) requires that all account transactions be reported. Banks are also required to report the existence of safe deposit boxes on their premises, linking them to the specific names of the holders.