Mark Carney’s old pals at the Royal Canadian Mint are running a closed trial of a digital legal tender backed by a government-issued currency (the Canadian dollar). They call it MintChip.
It’s intended for use in low-value, online and point-of-sale payments. It’s basically a government-backed version of bitcoin, with all of the convenience but (presumably) none of the privacy of a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency.
But if anyone is going to make digital money replace cash, it’s probably the private sector. Visa, for example, has launched a new campaign designed to encourage contactless payments and replace cash. Visa calls the campaign “cashfree and proud” and seeks to stigmatise the use of cash by calling it “peculiar”, as the press release below shows:
The campaign is the latest step of Visa UK’s long term strategy to make cash ‘peculiar’ by 2020. The campaign is focused on encouraging consumers who are light contactless users, or those who are yet to use contactless in their daily lives, reassuring them of the ease and simplicity of use. The series of ads demonstrates contactless as the new normal way to pay for everyday items as part of their daily routine; such as buying essentials from their local shop or a drink in a pub.
Satisfy demand
Yes, because only criminals and technophobic stupid people still use cash. And the Japanese. Cash hoarding induced by negative interest rates has forced Japanese authorities to print larger denomination notes to satisfy demand. Japan will print 1.23 billion ¥10,000 notes, according to The Japan Times. That’s a note with a face value of about £65, at current exchange rates.
Call them old fashioned. Or just call them financially repressed and suffering at the hands of a cruel monetary regime. But Japanese savers want their cash. And they don’t trust the banks to keep it safe. Keep it secret! Keep it safe, Japan.
Category: Investing in Bitcoin