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Governments all over the world, including the U.S., have stretched their finances to their limits.
They’ve piled up debts without the ability … or the intention … to pay them back. And, they desperately need more money.
These governments continue to spend. And they will never reform. So, they must constantly raise taxes because they can’t muster any financial restraint.
Meanwhile, they’ve come up with a plan to squeeze every cent they can out of your wallet or purse.
By forcing citizens to make cashless transactions, governments can maximize their tax collection.
After all, if they can trace it, they can tax it.
| Â Governments argue that cashless transactions can help them prevent terrorist financing, money laundering, fraud and tax evasion. |
Governments argue that cashless transactions can help them prevent terrorist financing, money laundering, fraud and tax evasion.
They argue that paper money tends to end up in the black market. They complain that they can’t follow it as easily as they can follow digital exchanges.
But cashless transactions have huge disadvantages …
They increase the risks of security breaches. They offer less privacy. And they may create a wider divide between the rich and the poor. That’s because people who can’t afford access to the internet and phones must struggle harder in non-cash societies.
And like my colleague Larry Edelson believed, those disadvantages couldn’t be more dangerous.
So, if you’re looking for an alternative to cash, take a gander at alternative digital currencies, or cryptocurrencies.
Consider …
Alternative digital currencies, like Bitcoin and Ethereum, are in the headlines almost daily. In fact, Bitcoin is up 160% and Ethereum is up 2,335% year-to-date. Ripple, a cryptocurrency based out of San Francisco, has risen in value by almost 2,595% this year.
Recently, a Singapore startup called TenX announced that it has designed a Visa card capable of debiting users’ cryptocurrency wallets, according to Bloomberg. The card allows customers to pay for goods at brick-and-mortar merchants with Bitcoin, Ethereum and many other digital currencies.
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| The cryptocurrency Bitcoin has increased in value 160% year-to-date. It’s monitored by a peer-to-peer internet protocol. |
A cryptocurrency is digital money, created from code. And it’s free of all governmental oversight. That’s because the cryptocurrency economy gets monitored by a peer-to-peer internet protocol.
Cryptocurrencies are essentially digital gold that can be used for payments. But their payment aspect has been outpaced by their use as a means of speculation and as a store of value.
Will cryptocurrencies catch on? Will they become as universal as a debit or credit cards?
I certainly think Bitcoin and the like will become a more-common way for consumers across the globe to buy goods and services. But I don’t think they are quite ready for primetime just yet.
Cryptocurrencies are still relatively new. They have a small market share in the overall landscape when it comes to total consumer transactions.
But cryptocurrencies are gaining steam. The fact is, cryptocurrencies began 2017 with a market cap of just $17.68 billion, but surged to a market cap high of $116.28 billion by mid-June.
That rise is pretty incredible and largely unsustainable. But I do believe that when the volatility calms down, investors will give these alternative currencies a closer look.
The bottom line: The efforts by governments and the financial industry to eliminate cash are only going to strengthen over the coming years. The world will search for alternative payments, and cryptocurrencies may be worth a look.
Best wishes,
David Dutkewych
{ 8 comments }
Cash is king!
And for some reason no one thinks the bureaucratic political class won’t legislate their way into requiring those transactions be taxed or declare them illegal if they can’t trace them?
Karl Marx wanted state to whither away or it will happen sooner than later,is cryptocurrency the means to that end? I think so. Like flat earther and proverbial ostrich they would like to resist to that kind of change because that is human nature
but Earth would circle around the Sun, this false rearguard action would give way to the inevitable, and we will inherit a distributed Capitalist society without a corrupt State, and World would become a truly Global civilization.
When they want your money they will send a bill, and you will pay it. Do your transactions on another network.
Sounds like a bad idea to get rid of cash. In a war the first thing the enemy will do is shut
down the electric grid and shut down the economy. They’ll unleash hackers to create chaos all over. When things shut down, commerce stops, shelves empty…. At least if cash is around things can still be civilized. But if things totally break down then the veneer of civilization disappears, a total breakdown occurs…and people and things get ugly, no food,no water, no power, no precious devices…. People will become violent over time, they will not let their kids, families starve or be victims of the mobs and gangs. Neighbors will fight neighbors for the basics. The authorities and military will be overwhelmed. All the enemy has to do is let the chaos and violence consume the nation, doing most of their work for them. It’s madness to do away with cash. At least people can
barter and use cash when things shut down for days, weeks, months. But to rely on things that require power is madness. It would be playing right into the hands of an enemy. Things can go south in a New York minute. Most of us have seen the ugliness that can happen when the crowd mentality takes over, and it ain’t pretty! That’s the trouble with all this ‘Academics’ running the world with their social, financial engineering
that defies even the basic logic. Especially in complex system! Do any of them live in the real world???!!They are DANGEROUS with their half baked theories!
You do have a point! What I don’t like about them is why the value of them goes up, and they are traded like a commodity. If investors can have an influence on the value or the price of the bits, I wonder is it money or is it a commodity. If its both and they are traded for profits, they will be more vulnerable to economics and less safe than a debit card and cash. Does crypto money support or promote a real good Globalization theory. I think not, and as others mentioned above, it could be dangerous. If you think about it, right now we have both systems, it seems to work fine. I am a little concerned for the poor people though if something like this happens. Change always leaves some people behind .. and then there’s the unintended consequences, and those usually hurt the poor the most. The black market, for the lack of a better word, actually takes care of a lot of poor people. Many grub out a living working for cash. What are you going to do with all those people?
Hi David, I have recently been reading articles on bitcoin and don’t quite understand how they work. It appears to be the way of the future, with govts in debt up to their eyeballs eyeing the wealth of their people to pay these debts.
Perhaps, as more information comes out explaining how the bitcoin works, this may very well be the global currency that we need to make govts more accountable.
For those having real wealth, how will they carry it from present economy — with its handwriting on the wall — into the next one?
A means of exchange, undoubtedly cashless, will be how government ultimately establishes or reestablished ltself. Cyrptocurecies will either loom large or be like hympty dumpty.