As the pandemic has changed the attitude of different countries to cash

the Trend began to be observed in mid-February. Then the banks in China began to disinfect all incoming bills, and Central Bank of China started to handle the bills by ultraviolet radiation using special lamps. In addition, the treatment seized a considerable quantity of notes, and instead printed a new one. Took action and the government of South Korea and Hungary – in these countries received from banks paper money was disinfected, using a special furnace, where they were kept at a temperature of 150 degrees Celsius for a few seconds. The U.S. Federal reserve as a precaution against the spread of coronavirus in March imposed a “quarantine” for cash dollars coming from Asia. Banknotes were in the vaults of the Federal reserve system from seven to 10 days to verify and redistribution in financial institutions. And in Pakistan, the Central Bank imposed a 14-day “quarantine for rupees,” but in this case, the currency was kept in different private banks of the country and it was not about entering the country with paper money, but of bills, which banks received from hospitals and clinics.

In April, the Bank for international settlements, advising regulators worldwide, has released a newsletter, which mentions that a pandemic could accelerate global shift to virtual payments, including the emergence of digital currencies by Central banks. Thus, the crisis caused by the COVID-19 can be a catalyst for structural changes. Suffice it to recall the robbery of a cash warehouse in the suburbs of Stockholm Westbury that occurred in 2009, which led to the creation of a “cashless society” in Sweden. Then the government took serious steps to reduce monetary circulation, to protect the workers, after a series of robberies swept the shops and banks and even affected the buses. Since those events the cash turnover in the country fell from 39 percent in 2010 to 13 percent in 2018. To date, about 20 percent of retailers Sweden do not accept banknotes. In 2017, the Swedish regulator announced the beginning of the development program of national digital currency called e-krona. Latest information on the project, known today, suggest the possibility that there will be used the technology of the blockchain, even though in previous reports it was said that electronic Krona will be managed centrally and the Swedish regulator will get tight control over the money supply.

Coronaries, according to experts, can become a trigger, similar to the incident in Westbury, which will accelerate the creation of digital currencies and the rejection of the use of cash. So, in late April, China launched a pilot program of digital yuan in several major cities. In large-scale testing involves four major banks StraNY, including the Agricultural Bank of China, and 22 companies. Digital currency is supported by the people’s Bank of China and tied to the national currency. So the yuan is unlikely to resemble the traditional cryptocurrencies that support decentralization, and is expected to use asymmetric cryptography and smart contracts that provide controlled anonymity. Despite the fact that Beijing’s plan to turn the yuan into a global currency were implemented five years ago, when he was voted by the Board of Directors of the IMF, the yuan is still occupies a modest place in the global economy and international Finance (by the end of the first quarter of the current year the share of the yuan in foreign exchange reserves of member countries of IMF was only 2.02 percent from 61,99% for US dollar). The transition to DCCB (digital currency the Central Bank) will strengthen the position of the state and establish a monopoly on the issue of money Chinese Bank in the country digital Renminbi will prevent attempts to use other cryptocurrencies. Outside of China cryptowall will serve the foreign trade and the export of Chinese capital. Introducing digital yuan, Beijing hopes to de-dollarize the economy and foreign economic relations, which is especially important against the background of the introduction of Washington’s economic sanctions against China, experts say.

out of the so-called “digital hibernation” and the Bank of Canada, which also plans to develop and deploy your own DCCB. It is assumed that the digital canadian dollar will provide user privacy and it will be able to use all Canadians, even those who have no Bank account or smartphone. Washington have not yet reached a clear position on the question of digitalization, however, the pandemic coronavirus called to this subject interest. Although to date the authorities have not taken a clear position on this issue, experts in financial technology Mondato believe that the launch of the American cryptically’s only a matter of time.

However, although the process of adoption of digital currencies has already begun, hurry with forecasts about the disappearance of cash in the short term is not worth it. First, in terms of the digital currency will disappear the need for financial mediator operations, which can cause serious disturbances; in addition, a multiple increase the risks associated with cybercrime, all these challenges will somehow have to decide, and States need time to prepare for the event. In addition, the IMF study showed that older people like cash and do not want out of their use, so the attack is completely “cashless future”, according to experts, is possible only in the long term, although the global pandemic has accelerated this process.