Europe's planned digital euro would cap how much each person can hold, which is bad news for anyone who wants control over their own money.

• The European Central Bank wants a limit on how many digital euros one person can keep, so people don't pull cash out of regular banks all at once.
• Past official work points to a cap somewhere between €500 and €3,000 per person, with the final number set by EU politics.
• The worry: money that expires if you don't spend it by month's end, and rules built into the currency that block certain purchases like meat, dairy, or flights beyond a short annual allowance.
• The bigger fear is a future where universal basic income arrives only as digital currency, after private banks fail and other money loses value.
• War and crisis are seen as the excuse that pushes people into this system faster.

Outlook: Expect the EU to keep moving the digital euro forward, with the per-person cap becoming the main political fight.