Back in January 2017, the European Commission proposed a plan to limit upper cash payments for individuals. The response was overwhelmingly negative.
Laying the path for a cashless society
After a proposal by the European Commission to limit the maximum amount of cash payments, it conducted an EU-wide survey in order to better understand how the population felt regarding the proposal. The survey concluded that 95% of the responders are rejecting the proposal and strongly believe that this measure isn’t useful at all. The majority of responders were from Germany, a country that is known for their support for cash payments and financial privacy.
Innovative measures for demonetization
In recent months, some governments have taken minor and even drastic measures in order to crack down on cash. A famous example is last years decision by the Indian government to ban certain money notes, in order to fight cash hoarding and tax evasion.
Last year, Amsterdam introduced an innovative way for homeless people to collect money. Homeless people were given jackets that allowed them to digitally receive money, which can be used to buy food, baths, and accommodations at a homeless shelter.
Future of Bitcoin
In February, the Venezuelan government decided to crack down on Bitcoin operations. After the Venezuelan Bolivar dramatically dropped in value, many people decided to exchange their remaining money for bitcoins. Cash payment limits may force citizens to use less cash or no cash at all, and may even push them to use cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Ethereum in order to pay a higher amount of money and keep their financial transactions more secure and anonymous from governments.
What are your thoughts on this measure by the European commission? Do you think that people may use Bitcoin in order to keep their transactions more private? Let us know in the comments below!
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