Sweden on track to stop using cash by 2023

[bitwise_ranger]

"Fuelled in no small part by the increased adoption of alternatives such as cryptocurrency, it seems undeniable that the world is moving closer each day to becoming a globally cashless society."

https://stadivm.com/blog/sweden-cashless-by-2023/

[af_newbie]

"Fuelled in no small part by the increased adoption of alternatives such as cryptocurrency, it seems undeniable that the world is moving closer each day to becoming a globally cashless society."

https://stadivm.com/blog/sweden-cashless-by-2023/

Without cash, it will be hard to finance bribes and other criminal activities.  Z-cash anyone?

[KennyR]

Sweden being a small country with 11-12 million of population coming up with the plan to stop using cash and go completely onto digital payments is possible. Also the deadline is years away from the present day. Within this if the government plan in the right way they can easily implement the same serving as a model to the rest of the world countries.

[yesiam6]

Isn't every kind of western government trying to make this happen, just make cash disappear and they can track every single thing you buy sell this data to insurances to make you pay higher fees.
And establish a stepping stone in creating a totalitarian state, just look at what happens over in the UK , 1 camera for every 32 UK citizen...and the latest internet censorship by having to register yourself to be able to watch pornsites source: https://metro.co.uk/2018/12/19/porn-sites-will-require-proof-age-april-2019-itll-work-8265771/
Absolutely disgusting
Sorry if i went a little offtopic

[sheenshane]

I do understand that altcoins are very much appreciated and accepted globally slowly. But the thing you point out that society is moving closer each day to becoming a globally cashless society is super doubtful. Before seeing fiat as the bitcoin's competition, you have to keep in mind the previous currencies. Golds, silvers, bronze, salt, spices? Those are the trading goods before and the fiat was successfully replaced them.

[Beerwizzard]

I do understand that altcoins are very much appreciated and accepted globally slowly. But the thing you point out that society is moving closer each day to becoming a globally cashless society is super doubtful. Before seeing fiat as the bitcoin's competition, you have to keep in mind the previous currencies. Golds, silvers, bronze, salt, spices? Those are the trading goods before and the fiat unsuccessfully replaced them.

Why unsuccessfully? Everyone is using fiat money it is popular AF. Maybe fiat replaced them because everything was not that good?

Sweden being a small country with 11-12 million of population coming up with the plan to stop using cash and go completely onto digital payments is possible. Also the deadline is years away from the present day. Within this if the government plan in the right way they can easily implement the same serving as a model to the rest of the world countries.

China is planning to get rid of cash and they are successfully doing that for the last time. And it is not a small country.

[Mbitr]

I believe most if not all countries would like to be cashless. Cashless does not mean FIATless though. Digital banking will increase and card use will increase. Cryptocurrency will not take over from fiat any time soon and is pretty irrelevant to most countries.
My 2 satoshis if that matters.

[LUCKMCFLY]

If a country like Sweden can choose to get out of the FIAT money it is very likely that many nations will join, because the FIAT money represents stability for governments and banks, what can happen is that bitcoin and cryptocurrencies the coming future will be impressive, because it is about an entire nation that will not use what would normally be used in any prosperous economy. I think they will be pioneers in implementing an economy that way.

It could be said that now in 3 years we can see digital economies implemented in world class countries with stable economies, this must resonate with the great powers, I wonder, what will the impact be like in neighboring countries?

[coins4commies]

This isn't about getting rid of fiat or switching to crytpo.  Its simply about no longer circulating paper money or coins (cash) but letting all of the fiat be digitally transferred through cards and transfer systems such as googlepay, applepay, quickpay, venmo etc. 

[n0ne]

More countries around the globe have begun to make themselves advanced. Already several countries have started using its own cryptocurrency, but they haven't stopped the usage of paper currency. One being Switzerland which has got its own coin, but in terms of usage it is nil. In this way Sweden might also take the step forward, but to what extent this is getting implemented iis unsure.

[Artemis3]

Its all fun and games until you lose electricity for various days and you can't even buy food or water because everything is down. Hopefully such countries would never face such a thing, would they?

[squatz1]

"Fuelled in no small part by the increased adoption of alternatives such as cryptocurrency, it seems undeniable that the world is moving closer each day to becoming a globally cashless society."

https://stadivm.com/blog/sweden-cashless-by-2023/

Without cash, it will be hard to finance bribes and other criminal activities.  Z-cash anyone?

Eh, people have been wiring money from some super weird accounts all over the world for decades now. People would find a way around this,greed is hell of a drug.

Sweden being a small country with 11-12 million of population coming up with the plan to stop using cash and go completely onto digital payments is possible. Also the deadline is years away from the present day. Within this if the government plan in the right way they can easily implement the same serving as a model to the rest of the world countries.

Without a doubt true, makes it a lot easier to work with a country that is filled with mostly similar people that is very small. Geography is pretty close to the same. In a country like America, where you have about 350m or so people -- and there's no way this would work in a nation like the US (this quickly)

I believe most if not all countries would like to be cashless. Cashless does not mean FIATless though. Digital banking will increase and card use will increase. Cryptocurrency will not take over from fiat any time soon and is pretty irrelevant to most countries.
My 2 satoshis if that matters.

+1

A country won't simply give up their economic control, people seem to forget that. Banks, politicans, etc will continue to hold their strangle.

[omonuyak]

Give up cash will be very difficult now I don't know the level of they developments in blockchain technology.  2023 is not far from now and I don't think in the next four years any country can adopt blockchain technology or cashless society that will completely keep cash out!

[michellee]

I don't think so because they have a new option to transfer the money without anyone knows especially if they use crypto. They can easily to buy crypto at the dark market and then send the money into their wallet to fund their operations.

Then, it will be big news if in the Europe country, and they are reducing the using of cash and moves to the digital payment. It means they are following the technology which will grow more than now.

[sheenshane]

Give up cash will be very difficult now I don't know the level of they developments in blockchain technology.  2023 is not far from now and I don't think in the next four years any country can adopt blockchain technology or cashless society that will completely keep cash out!

Sweden stopping to use cash is a big battle they needed to win. I do understand that we are all enthusiasts of Cryptocurrency and we want to make this happen. But replacing fiat to cryptocurrency is a really bad idea and I see no chance of cash being gone. Sweden to become a cashless country would affect their economic growth in their early years' adoption as well. I'm so much afraid that they will lose a big amount of asset and revenue by doing it.

[Artemis3]

I don't think its such a big battle, i have seen it unfold before myself due to necessity rather than modernity, all thanks to hyperinflation.

All i'm saying is you need electricity to not fail for long periods. My place is largely a debit card country, because physical money is very scarce (estimated 3% of circulating money supply, and going lower every minute the gov foolishly creates more electronically).

So in my country you can kiss goodbye to commerce unless you have that PoS debit card pad thingie reader and connectivity for it. There are mobile versions too, and they tend to cost more than a smartphone. If this was possible here with rampant criminality and poverty, how could it not be possible there with such a peaceful and wealthy society? They are being very conservative by giving it 4 whole years, but they don't have to rush it either.

The main disadvantage to debit cards is that you need banks and payment processors, unlike crypto. And most people already own a smartphone, so anyone could install their favorite wallet. Or you would need to push some sort of hardware wallet with connectivity (at least wifi).

[r1s2g3]

Give up cash will be very difficult now I don't know the level of they developments in blockchain technology.  2023 is not far from now and I don't think in the next four years any country can adopt blockchain technology or cashless society that will completely keep cash out!

Sweden stopping to use cash is a big battle they needed to win. I do understand that we are all enthusiasts of Cryptocurrency and we want to make this happen. But replacing fiat to cryptocurrency is a really bad idea and I see no chance of cash being gone. Sweden to become a cashless country would affect their economic growth in their early years' adoption as well. I'm so much afraid that they will lose a big amount of asset and revenue by doing it.

I do not see any official statement quoted from Swedish government.
I do not how trusted and reputed that blogger is?
Did any mainstream publication house also echoed the story in same lines?
Most importantly, Not using cash does not means it will be crypto payments , it just mean it will be digital payments only.

Wow, look like government now want record of every cent of yours.

[okala]

The world have move above cash transactions and are now using cashless system through digitalization and blockchain, the banking system is now adopting e-commerse and digital transactions and the cryptocurrency on the other hand being run on the blockchain is the future global currencies.

[LTU_btc]

Sweden is one of few countries in the world which is almost ready to say goodbye to cash. In Sweden usage of physical cash is very low already, same like in their neighbour country Norway.
Personally I'm not fan of this thing. Moving fully to digital money means that we give full control of our money to commercial banks. And they will know everything about us - how much, when and where we spend our money. Personally, I prefer to have some privacy with my paper cash and fully control it.
User above talked above possible electricity issues which can make lot of problems while having only digital cash - well, I don't think it's an issue in most parts of the world. But one thing is worrying - possible cyber attacks against banks. Imagine scenario when you go to supermarket to buy food and trying to pay for and your card simply getting rejected due to attacks against bank systems. What to do in such case?
I think that most of countries want to move fully to digital money eventually, or at least make usage of paper cash minimal. But I think that we aren't ready yet for it. I predict that jt can take at least 10 years to fully move to digital money in most of developped countries, I'm not even talking about third world countries which have more important issues to solve before thinking about digital money.

[eaLiTy]

"Fuelled in no small part by the increased adoption of alternatives such as cryptocurrency, it seems undeniable that the world is moving closer each day to becoming a globally cashless society."

Sweden being a prosperous country they could become cashless in four years time but it is highly unlikely, people will still use fiat in every trade, unless a government comes up with a regulation that fiat paper money cannot be used and i do not think any government will come up with those verdict, it is a assumption and if there is a betting line it will be an under dog  .