This whole "push" for going cashless is shtupid!
1 in 3 americans are unbanked or underbanked.
And this is a decently advanced (what once was a 1st world nation)
So, if congress critters voted to go cashless tomorrow, there are a lot of people who would die from being unable to buy food.
Further, i have seen no end of problems at stores. Their electronic cash systems are old, archaic and prone to failure.
If they really want a cashless society, then start putting in the real infrastructure to support it. Get rid of the many inter-bank fees for transfers. Because, that is entirely what a cashless system becomes.
Build the system before you demand that people use it.
Fortunately, cryptos are so far ahead of them, that i believe that bitcoin will be accepted everywhere before cash-less societies are ever mandated. Cryptos are moving that fast, and govern-cements move really slowly.
I agree with your thoughts about the current state of the "digital" fiat system. Crypto Currencies are are light years ahead as they are founded on new and advancing technologies while the old money is built on a decaying infrastructure and is far from secure, trustworthy, and sound. There's a reason they decided to quantitatively ease so much "money" into the system during the 2008 financial crisis... They treated the money they issue like the trash it is because something better is making it's appearance.
The younger more technical generations are not going to trade away their lives for the trash they printed... And that's why it's going to be a wealth transfer... from the financially unsophisticated to the people holding the new medium of exchange.
I think that it is this very reason that the world will become cashless... It will start as a way for the government to simplify and trace money moving into things like Bitcoin. We already see this happening... As an example, on Coinbase they are no longer allowing people to link their credit products to buy crypto. This acts as a bottle neck and slows down the exodus into the new forms of money while also protecting their interests. The next logical step in slowing down the transition from old money into new money will be the elimination of cash from the system... I believe this is only going to bolster privacy coins as crypto currency navigates the waters of regulation in the coming years.