The Future of Money

Cash is declining in importance nearly everywhere.

Sweden is home to the world’s first central bank, but it also might be the first nation to see paper money become extinct. A Swedish central banker predicted in 2018 that the physical krona could disappear by 2030. The cashless future isn’t confined to the Nordic nations. In China, electronic payments via phones have mostly replaced transactions conducted in paper yuan notes. Central banks and national treasuries are beginning to experiment with digital currencies, as evidenced by The Bahamas’ launch of a government-backed digital currency in 2020.

The rise of bitcoin accelerated the looming disruption in money and finance. Bitcoin was launched in 2009, and its value has rocketed from less than $500 per coin in 2015 to $20,000 in 2017, and it crashed before soaring to $60,000 in 2021. Bitcoin promised an era of efficient, frictionless payment systems. While the bloom is off that particular rose, some of the world’s largest tech companies have taken note. Facebook and Amazon have begun experimenting with their own alternative currencies. In China, Ant Group, the financial arm of e-commerce...