Cold , hard currency is going extinct as digital transactions and CBDCs trend globally . But when will it happen and what are the consequences ?
PAYMENTS
CASH EXTINCTION :
A STEP TOO FAR ?
Cold , hard currency is going extinct as digital transactions and CBDCs trend globally . But when will it happen and what are the consequences ?
WRITTEN BY : JOANNA ENGLAND
Cash is a critically endangered species in the financial currency ecosystem . In comparative terms , it is being eradicated far faster than it took settlers in Mauritius to exterminate the dodo back in the 1600s – an appallingly swift process of approximately 90 years .
Doubtless , those settlers barely gave a thought to their actions , which saw the lowered population – and then the complete decimation – of a species that had been around for thousands of years . The dodo had been in existence since prehistoric times , peacefully contributing to its environment and the balance of nature , and it still had much to give .
Likewise , the existence of currency in a solid form still plays a critical role as the bedrock of our modern-day economy .
Cash has been with us for thousands of years . According to historical documents , the first standardised coins were created in a region of western Turkey in at least 700BC . They were made of a substance called electrum – which is a silver and gold amalgam – and marked the introduction of a new payment movement that would transform the world .
66 May 2023