This could highlight one key reason why paper money might never disappear: consumers and businesses need an alternate currency to serve as a last resort in the event of the internet being compromised or shut down. Even a few hours lapse in electronic payment availability could be disastrous for the economy of a nation. Uptime and reliability of paper money carries a potential to rival any purported advantages people associate with a cashless society.
But at the same time many governments seriously hate cash and are actively taking measures against it. A lot of countries have banned high-denomination notes and imposed restrictions on cash transactions. They think that cashless society will help them defeat money laundering once and for all, which means less crime and especially less tax evasion. And I have a feeling that they all are willing to take the risks of cashless society that you've described, because it means more control over the population.
It's true, almost all governments are trying to move to cashless society, but I'm sure that they doesn't care about money laundering. They just want to collect taxes on every single penny around. The end users, ordinary citizens, are always f*cked hard. Like 40%-60% income taxes before covering their expenses while companies are paying 10%-30% after covering their expenses.
Shorts blackouts aren't that scary, but 3-4+ days are in any Western country and could lead to serious troubles. We just need to be careful and have some other options.
