It is evident physical cash is slowly being phased out by governments and financial institutions. Consumers have their role to play as well, as some regions are more prone to people using mobile and digital payments. Cash is no longer king, and changes are coming to the global financial ecosystem as we know it. But what does it all mean for Bitcoin in its current state?
Cash Is Dead, Long Live Cash
Whether people want to admit it or not, cash is no longer the king of payment methods. Even though a lot of countries still see cash being used for a lot of transactions every day, that situation is slowly starting to change. Digital payments, payment cards, and even virtual currencies are starting to be more prevalent. Even banks are looking into the usage of blockchain technology for digital payments right now.
But things are not as black-and-white as the media may want you to believe. Phasing out cash can’t be done overnight, not even when law decrees it in places like India. Precious metals are a more than viable alternative for investing, but for day-to-day usage, gold is even more cumbersome than cash has ever been. Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are gaining mainstream appeal, but real-life use cases remain somewhat limited.
People need to keep in mind the transition to a cashless society is not made to help out the average person on the street. In the end, it is a move to hide a critical underlying flaw in the financial sector. Since the financial crisis of 2008, governments and banks have been colluding to seize all of the power and wealth, at the expense of everyday consumers.
Printing new money to solve financial instability is a tactic that lost all of its appeal. Helicopter money is no longer a viable strategy for banks around the world, so cash has to go altogether. Transitioning into a digitala get will allow banks to issue unlimited amounts of virtual currency, but without the cumbersome side effects of printing and distribution.
Struggling economies are dealing with financial collapse, thanks to governments and banks colluding to end cash once and for all. Venezuela, and more recently India, are two excellent examples of what may unfold in the rest of the world over the coming years. Restricting access to funds for consumers is never the solution, yet it is a very real problem in more countries than we are aware of right now.
Some people may think this is a positive development for the adoption of cryptocurrency. When banks and governments alienate themselves from the population, people should automatically look for financial alternatives. Unfortunately, things will not unfold so black-and-white either.
The use cases for Bitcoin and consorts are far too few in number to make it a mainstream currency. But as more of these news stories are no longer ignored by the media, people will eventually be faced with a difficult choice. Do they continue to trust a sinister financial ecosystem that has betrayed their trust multiple times, or are they finally willing to take back full financial control?
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