There are several reasons why governments and banks want to get rid of paper money altogether in the years to come. Not only is there a lot of fraud going on with paper currency, but consumers are also flocking to more digital solutions. Credit cards are only the first step, and mobile payments are gaining more popularity.  But is this move as beneficial to Bitcoin and digital currency as we all think, or is it another power play by the banks?

Also read: Living On Bitcoin Becomes Easier Over Time

Getting Rid of High-value Paper Money

Fraud rates in the paper money industry are quite steep, particularly when the higher-value bills are concerned. For example, the GBP 50, US$100, and EUR 500 bills are the main target of fraudsters, terrorists, and tax evaders all over the world. At the same time, consumers have a hard time spending these bills, as very few retailers accept high-denominated notes.

While the obvious choice would be to address the people responsible for counterfeiting and illegal activities, certain people feel the focus should shift to the concept of cash itself.  In fact, this approach may hold some merit as large bills are playing a major part in corruption and crime all over the world. Even tax evaders seem to prefer these high-value bills for some reason.

Keeping in mind how difficult it can be to spend these paper money notes as a consumer, it only seems to make sense to get rid of these bills sooner rather than later. They present little to no value to the economy as we know it while high-denominated paper money plays a crucial role in the underground world of illegal activities.

But there is a bigger question that needs to be asked: is the removal of cash beneficial to society, or are banks looking to seize more control over consumer funds than ever before? If paper money were to go away, consumers would be left with very few options to make payments. Credit and debit cards, bank cards, and wire transfers are all that would remain, all of which are tightly controlled by banks.

Bitcoin is The Only Alternative

Even mobile payment solutions are not the answer to circumventing this centralization, as they all rely on existing financial infrastructure in the end. While those mobile tools may offer a very friendly user interface, they still use the legacy system, which is solely in the hands of banks and other established financial players.

There is one viable alternative available to consumers all over the world, in the form of

Source: BBC

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