Many countries have recently increased their efforts to reduce the use of cashMoney in physical form such as banknotes and coins. More by promoting digital paymentA transfer of funds which discharges an obligation on the part of a payer vis-à-vis a payee. More methods and imposing ever smaller withdrawal limits. To justify this move, governments usually state that cash is mainly used by criminals to anonymously finance illegal activities and that the elimination of physical moneyFrom the Latin word moneta, nickname that was given by Romans to the goddess Juno because there was a minting workshop next to her temple. Money is any item that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular region, country or socio-economic context. Its onset dates back to the origins of humanity and its physical representation has taken on very varied forms until the appearance of metal coins. The banknote, a typical representati... More will help boost the economy.
From a logical standpoint however such explanations might be considered far-fetched. Criminals are highly unlikely to cease their illicit activities should cash disappear – they will simply seek other ways to carry out their transactions by using, for example, digital currencies that are rarely regulated and are frequently difficult to track (such as BitcoinBitcoin is commonly said to be a cryptocurrency, a digital means of exchange developed by a set of anonymous authors under the pseudonym of Satoshi Nakamoto, which began operating in 2009 as a community project (Wikipedia type), without the relationship or dependency of any government, state, company or body, and whose value (formed by a complicated system of mathematical algorithms and cryptography) is not supported by any central bank or authority. Bitcoins are essentially accounting entries i... More).
Cash’s demise would probably mostly benefit the Tax administration rather than the economy, but even that remains to be seen as many of the largest cases of tax fraud are not even carried out in cash leaving, once again, the most vulnerable to the mercy of the authorities. A fully digitalised system would especially benefit banks as they would finally be free to charge negative interest rates. At present, the currencyThe money used in a particular country at a particular time, like dollar, yen, euro, etc., consisting of banknotes and coins, that does not require endorsement as a medium of exchange. More circulating outside the financial system represents about 10% of the money supply in developed economies.
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