Author

Topic: Physical Cash Replacement (Read 62 times)

legendary
Activity: 4172
Merit: 4341
March 22, 2021, 05:37:53 PM
#2
physical cash is harder for disabled people.. .. why. because the physical need to get to an ATM and then when shopping they need to be physically in the store and physically hand the money.

digital money is actually easier. many devices can be customised to be text to speech and speach to text
(no hands needed)
online+deliveries are easier than ATM and physical stores

the issue people have is they want a way to store funds outside of a bank authorisation. EG not need to ask the bank for amounts over $500. not need to be questioned about high amount deposit/withdrawals. not risk account freezings

.. thats what crypto solves. if its on your key you need no one elses consent
.. its why LN fails as it requires partner consent. and destination acceptance and route availability

a government digital currency needs to have the ability to hold outside permission networks. but able to be transfered into permission networks

bitcoin is the outside permission. LN is inside permission network.
LN is like the cheques of a joint account. and bitcoin is the gold that people hold and can be put into bank vaults to then play around with joint signature bank balance cheques

if a government just operate a LN system. it will fail. people will use alternate currency. much like how africa went for m-pesa rather than a government currency
jr. member
Activity: 40
Merit: 7
March 22, 2021, 12:02:27 PM
#1
Hello folks,

There's a lot of talk around the world about the introduction of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC's). One reason why CBDC's have become a popular talking point is the belief that they could possibly be used to replace physical cash – something on a lot of banks/government/regulators minds. The phasing out of physical cash was happening before Covid and the pandemic has only hastened it's demise.

So, with cash usage plummeting and the cost of processing physical cash mooning, there's a real concern that vulnerable individuals (e.g. disabled, those without access to certain technologies, etc) in society could be locked out of accessing local services because only electronic payment methods are accepted. Many major cities have seen an up-tick in businesses only accepting electronic payments which is causing regulators and law makers to look into the issue.

My concern here is that if the market doesn't come up with a decentralised solution which is compatible with a suitable regulatory framework then it's possible that governments and regulators choose to use a CBDC and the opportunity to create a non-government replacement to cash will be lost. I've done some research into solutions which the crypto space have proposed to replace physical cash and all I can find is fully electronic systems – basically wallets on smart phones. This doesn't necessary help vulnerable individuals nor does it maximise privacy.

So, my questions for you wonderful people are as follows:
  • What do you think the requirements / features would be for a service which replaces psychical cash?
  • Are there any decentralised / pseudo-anonomous services which have been developed to specifically replace psychical cash?

Many thanks,
S
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