“Riksbank”, the Central Bank of Sweden, will finally launch this year the cryptocurrency project that it decided to start in 2017. The pilot test would be the first at state level in the European Union and the currency would be called e-krona (digital crown).
Sweden is one of the European countries in which the use of cash has decreased the most. Riksbank himself explained this in a statement:“The use of banknotes and coins is becoming increasingly low in society. At the same time, technological advances with regard to electronic money and payment methods are advancing rapidly.”
In addition, the Swedish Central Bank argued:“We have the task of promoting a secure and efficient payment system, a task that can be more difficult if most households and businesses no longer use cash as a payment method in the future. An e-krona would give society a digital complement to cash, where the State would guarantee the value of money.”
Central Bank and non-private bank
Riksbank also highlights the distinction between a public and a private bank: “A Central Bank cannot declare itself bankrupt, that is, it can meet all the needs that the customer may have. It has an unlimited capacity to create new money; is a risk-free asset and, at the same time, a means of payment”.
During its market analysis phase, Riksbank conducted a survey in 2018 to study citizens’ consumption habits. The results showed that Sweden is one of the countries in which the use of cash is disappearing; Only 13% of the population paid their last purchase in cash (very far away from 39% in 2010).
The results simply showed a palpable trend at street level, where establishments were failing to accept cash as most of their customers did not use it. Such is the level, that even street artists use dataphones to collect their art.
A Despite this, the Swedish Central Bank warns of the risk of exclusion of people not familiar with technology (advanced age) or suffering from some kind of disability, and warns of the need for cash to avoid an exclusive and privatized society.
Once again it isIt exemplifies the need to direct technological progress towards the achievement of a common good, placing people at the centre and moving away from strictly artificial and utilitarian creations.
