A Cashless Society: Sweden Is Making A Leap Forward Towards (National) Cryptocurrency

The central bank of Sweden, Riksbank, is making headlines in our daily cryptocurrency news section again for its effort to completely shift to a cashless society. The country has seen a massive growth in the use of credit cards and several banks in Sweden no longer handle cash, which is a problem for some people who struggle to adapt to the new shift – but also an advantage for many.

Currently, the central bank is in line with this shift and believes that a state-backed digital option is necessary in order to maintain the stability of the country’s financial system. Dubbed ‘e-Krona’, the national digital currency will help Sweden in order to move forward and replace cash, becoming a primary financial instrument in the country.

As Riskbank noted, without a faster development effort, private entities may have too much responsibility in the payments sector which could lead to problems. They also said that they want to avoid making private institutions “responsible for ensuring that payments work in crisis situations.”

The bank wrote:

There are currently groups in society that are encountering problems as cash use declines because they find it difficult to use digital payment solutions for one reason or another. Such groups include older people, people with disabilities or those who, for different reasons, do not have access to payment instruments other than cash. Since it cannot be expected that the private market fully cater for these groups, the state can choose to take greater responsibility for them.

Obviously, Sweden is one of the leading countries where a pilot program like this is prepared – and should be in place by 2019 and fully implemented by 2021.

What’s important to note, however, is the fact that even though this national digital currency might share characteristics with cryptocurrencies, it will adhere to all rules as fiat currencies – and will be administered, owned, and regulated by a state entity.