For example: in Canada, the bank accounts of those who protested were literally frozen (for simply speaking out or being critical) and talks of potential CBDCs (aka. used to deduct funds from one’s account as a fine) whilst considering on abolishing cash altogether.
The alternative (for now at least) may be Crypto (online) until they consider that “illegal” in the future penalizing those who are using it, framing that as money laundering or tax evasion, whilst pushing their propaganda of “tap & go is safe & convenient”.
The answers are divided between:
- “Cash is King” (it allows anonymous or “private” transactions between you and the merchant)
- “Contactless” (convenient, but your purchases & transactions are monitored by the state)
Cash is apparently the last bastion of “anonymous” transactions where it doesn’t appear on one’s statement and one gets to keep their money without the state deducting it from their account since a nation’s central bank has monopoly over CBDCs and one’s funds.
That’s not even the end of it: them trying to make BTC or equivalent illegal by making CBDCs the default replacing gold overnight, it would mean all those bills you have are worthless. At this point, the only payment method is CBDCs that are linked to one’s digital ID.
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Use cash for now, but start transitioning to other privacy currencies, especially those that don’t depend on technology, such as precious metals and local currencies like Ithaca hours. Edit: I say transition away from cash (as in government-produced cash) because that they have serial numbers that enable tracking and they can decide to declare them invalid or inflate away their value through printing if people continue to use them anyway.
I know we’re meant to be discussing this from a privacy perspective, but my first thought whenever the topic of eliminating cash comes up is that, at least where I am in the US, it’s tantamount to euthanizing the homeless. The vast majority of unhoused folks I know (which is a lot, including myself for a terrible but thankfully short period of my life) get most of their necessities (particularly food) by buying them with cash they’ve earned through various means, rather than charities, food banks, soup kitchens, etc. And only a very small percentage of them has any sort of bank account and/or a device to manage digital currency.
But also privacy, yes. Cash is king.
Try GNU Taler https://www.taler.net/
Silver and copper still exist. https://ebay.us/m/Gcn2gM
For sure, even if it’s not perfect. Ready-to-use without electricity or internet, no payment processor shenanigans, and not nearly as comprehensive a system of tracking even if you account for serial numbers.
Cash is not 100% anonymous though. Vendors see you, cameras record you, you may even have to sign and present id for some transactions.
Bills also have serial numbers on them
US recently introduced the bright idea of banknote serial numbers blacklists. Great incentive to hold greenbacks!
how do serial numbers get on the blacklist?
That’s at government’s discretion. E.g. they might decide to increase the velocity of money, by causing it to expire. The point is that they can render your cash invalid, with no recourse.
You happen to have a source for this? I can’t seem to find much.
Will stores be checking the serial of every bill they take? That doesn’t seem scalable. I’d expect they would just be not recirculated the next time it’s brought to a bank. Or if it has to be in stores, by checking the series, not serial.
Unfortunately I don’t have an official source either, I’ve seen it on a Telegram channel a few days ago. Banknote serials are logged when dispensed from ATMs and when cash is being counted at the bank, e.g. when brought in by a business. So there are already checkpoints for banknote tracking. Cash isn’t as anonymous as people think, but for coins.
“Rendering my cash invalid with no recourse” might be on the extreme end of this, if the places that its checked are ATM and banks - so long as it’s still exchangeable for goods/services (e.g. not being checked by stores)
I’ll keep an eye out for kore info though.
But yes, with serials are tracked when taken from/put in ATM/bank, it is not anonymous. Potentially breaking larger bills at common places (stores/gas stations) could mitigate this, but theres still information about where you’ve been inherent in that.
Cash is king. Always use cash when possible. I do, and I love it…
They want to keep track of everything so people pay their taxes…I mean a certain portion of the population that is.
I’m happy with the opinions and reasons for it here.
Unfortunately IRL people and especially the youth who have grown up with it are totally pro-digital.
They look at you as if you’re a flat earther when you mention the possible consequences.“Some people are stupid” - no shit.
Why is this a question?
“Should people be allowed to keep their rights?” – this is usually intended to spark discussion, but discussing from this pov helps those who want bad things more than those who dont.
Because some people have a tendency to question the validity of things that don’t make sense to them. I could see someone asking, “why even have physical money anymore when everyone uses banking or credit?”
The same deal with privacy, “why should I worry about internet privacy if I have done no wrong and have nothing to hide?” There are always people left out and harmed in pursuit of some form of purisim like those lines of thought.
Cash in the United States is not as private as it seems. Eventually the bills will be scanned at various points through the financial system and the serial numbers are logged by these authorities. It may take some time to collect the data versus being able to view a blockchain, but cash isn’t as anonymous as it appears. And with a vastly decreasing amount of cash in circulation, it makes it a lot easier for the Govt to track its usage. It’s still the best option even considering cryptocurrencies.
Another reason for the decline in cash is that as the U.S. debt increases, the economy will have to inflate along with it, and it’s much easier to manage increasing inflation in an economy without physical currency. If things get really bad and conditions exist that would cause a bank run, well, good luck doing that if you can’t have cash. Run off with a copy of the database or something.
You are wrong about debt leading to inflation, that’s monetarism and has been thoroughly debunked.
I’m so tired of hearing people spout QTM bullshit. Good on you, stranger, for calling it out.
Monero works for me, come to think of it idk when the last time i used cash for a “private” transaction, but all my webhosting and domains and whatnot get paid with XMR.
I don’t see the benefit for the average person to get rid of cash. If it’s digital it’s trackable, can be hacked and more easily controlled by other parties. Also it allows for banks to charge more service fees.
The only private alternative to cash that im aware of is monero. Nothing else is as private as cash.
Bitcoin and Ethereum both have private L2s.
Yeah but then you have to transactions on the L2. Please correct me if I’m wrong.
I know this isn’t the case for RAILGUN on Ethereum, but I’m curious to what the bitcoiners are up to.
quantum money lol
