Digital Dollar

[ArmyBrat61]

On 9/29/2023 at 8:58 AM, AuEagle said:

 

When do they decide who can buy or sell?

When the One World Leader is enthroned.

[Sleep profit]

18 hours ago, BigK said:

Imagine the .gov levying a progressive fine based on your ESG raging. Ask them to close the border: 1% fine from your savings account, egregious violation (like posting somewhere that you think global warming is a hoax): 10% of your net worth, misgendering the 6'3" linebacker in a pink shirt: 20% of your 401(k).

By. Gosh if you weren’t a good conservative white male with ideas like this  you’d could be in Washington Government easy  Lol  

Edited September 30, 2023 by Sleep profit

[BigK]

7 hours ago, Sleep profit said:

By. Gosh if you weren’t a good conservative white male with ideas like this  you’d could be in Washington Government easy  Lol  

I'd be assassinated inside of a week.

[bersaguy]

On 9/28/2023 at 5:59 PM, Sleep profit said:

Very concerned I pay cash for almost everything 

The day is coming that no store or company will accept cash. There are some that have already stopped accepting cash for payment.

[Grayfox54]

28 minutes ago, bersaguy said:

The day is coming that no store or company will accept cash. There are some that have already stopped accepting cash for payment.

I won't be doing business with them. But I fear you may be right.

I've noticed more and more self check outs with signs saying Card Only, No Cash. 

[Sleep profit]

2 hours ago, bersaguy said:

The day is coming that no store or company will accept cash. There are some that have already stopped accepting cash for payment.

I would stop using them and encourage everyone else to. I know of two businesses that are doing this currently I have stopped using them and so has family and church members. Vote with your money.  You’re right though it’s just a matter of time until they want a computer chip  in your right hand or you’re forehead. I plan to resist as long as I can  it’s in my rebel nature lol 

Edited October 2, 2023 by Sleep profit

[OldIronFan]

I am in the opposite camp as most here I guess. I seldom have cash, don't need it, and don't really want it. 
It is a bit of a hassle to go to the bank and get cash when I need to deal with someone face to face for a transaction in cash. 
I use a credit card for everything, I found one with great travel benefits when I was traveling 40+ weeks a year and have stuck with it. I have not paid for a hotel room, rental car, or flight in 5 years thanks to those points and benefits. I have also not had any identity theft or hacking issues since going to one single digital form of payment. I have had my card number skimmed, stolen, or otherwise hacked multiple times but my CC company caught it before I did, notified me in each case, shut the card down, reversed fraudulent charges, and overnighted me new cards immediately. In fact they once overnighted a new card to a hotel I had not even checked into yet that was 4 states away when my card got caught by a credit card skimmer on a gas pump. 

I use my bank account for exactly 4 transactions each month; my direct deposit, my spouses direct deposit, the payment to the CC company for that months charges, and a payment to the mortgage company since they will not take a CC as payment. I have never had fraud issues with it because I just do not use it and don't want it out there to be skimmed or stolen. 

Now for the sake of safety I do carry an ATM card to my checking account, a second CC that is used only in an emergency, and if I am traveling I do keep a bit of cash. I generally carry just enough cash to cover a meal and a tank of gas in those instances where I might encounter a business without a working CC reader which these days is very rare. I would also get local cash when traveling internationally since acceptance of foreign cards in other countries is not always guaranteed. 

I simply do not buy the precious metals argument. If S does actually HTF and there is true societal collapse gold is useless. It can not easily be traded for food, medicine or weapons. If I have food and no gold I can eat. If I have weapons and no gold I can either trade for food and medicine, or take it by force if I have collapsed to that level, but I am not likely to to find someone willing to give up their food and medicine for a bit of gold. If I have gold but no food, medicine, or weapons I am probably going to starve in fairly short order. Barter works for the trade of useful items or services for other useful items or services. Gold does not satisfy any basic human need. No one in their right mind would trade food for gold unless there was an existing market still existing which could convert it to some other currency or commodity. If there was such a market still in existence then S had not really HTF and society had not truly collapsed in my opinion. 

Edited October 9, 2023 by OldIronFan

[MacGyver]

8 hours ago, Grayfox54 said:

I won't be doing business with them. But I fear you may be right.

I've noticed more and more self check outs with signs saying Card Only, No Cash. 

A lot of businesses are incentivized from multiple directions to go card only.  
 

Think of it like this: a business wants to get its product into the hands of people who want to buy however they can.  Taking a card actually costs them more than taking cash - figure about $0.30 per transaction and between 2.5 and 3% of the total purchase price.  That’s a lot in most low margin businesses.  So, there has to be other stuff at play to make them go with a more expensive way to sell you stuff.

As it turns out, cash is a liability for a lot of businesses.  If you’ve got a bunch of it onsite, you’re a robbery target.  Same for the person taking it to the bank.

Likewise, I’ve known plenty of businesses that have gone out of business because someone on the inside was stealing cash.

Factor in that an increasingly small portion of transactions are cash - but a thief doesn’t know that - and you’ve still got to send someone to the bank.  Your insurance is more expensive if you handle a lot of cash.

Any of y’all tried to get an employee to fill out a cash report competently in the last few years? That Square reader does it right every time and imports it straight into your bookkeeping software. Suddenly your managers get hours in their day back.

A lot of businesses are deciding it’s better for their business to go card only. 

[No_0ne]

2 hours ago, MacGyver said:

A lot of businesses are deciding it’s better for their business to go card only. 

Add to that, getting rid of regular payments by check or card, using ACH transfers instead.  All the benefits of card transactions, without the expense ...

[OldIronFan]

8 hours ago, No_0ne said:

Add to that, getting rid of regular payments by check or card, using ACH transfers instead.  All the benefits of card transactions, without the expense ...

The problem with ACH is that it is a false or short lived gain. ACH is in the same state as credit card transaction were several decades ago when their fees were "reasonable". Once they have a significant foot hold on the market and the number of transactions skyrocket they will simply raise or impose fees on vendors that rival CC transaction fees. Some are already doing that. They are not going to leave money on the table for long, there are beach houses in the Hamptons to buy afterall. 

[crc4]

There are places where a cash purchase saves big bucks. Countless times when getting a estimate or price for a service or item, I'll ask 'what if I pay cash?'

It's rare that I don't get anywhere from 7-15% discount for using greenbacks. Last big job I was told $3700. I got it for $3100 with cash. I always ask for and get a signed paper receipt.

[BC in TN]

On 9/28/2023 at 8:25 PM, BigK said:

I don't trust anyone who trusts the gov't. It shows bad judgement, IMO…….

[monkeylizard]

On 10/2/2023 at 4:01 PM, OldIronFan said:

I simply do not buy the precious metals argument. If S does actually HTF and there is true societal collapse gold is useless. It can not easily be traded for food, medicine or weapons. If I have food and no gold I can eat. If I have weapons and no gold I can either trade for food and medicine, or take it by force if I have collapse to that level, but I am not likely to to find someone willing to give up their food and medicine for a bit of gold. If I have gold but no food, medicine, or weapons I am probably going to starve in fairly short order. Barter works for the trade of useful items or services for other useful items or services. Gold does not satisfy any  basic human need. No one in their right mind would trade food for gold unless there was an existing market still existing which could convert it to some other currency or commodity. If there was such a market still in existence then S had not really HTF and society had not truly collapsed in my opinion. 

^^ this. We saw it in every country where the economy collapsed either from bad government (Venezuela) or from war (former Yugoslavia). Reading the real-life account from Selco of what that was like will make you rethink your supplies. Keeping some "smalls" around (cheap pocket knives, Bic lighters, etc.) for trading seems a better idea than gold and junk silver. Practical knowledge and skills are king.

[btq96r]

Are we talking about a real digital currency or just a form of virtualization for the USD? 

There's also a program FedNow that recently went online...which is confusing some folks who think it's a digital dollar.  It's not, just a way to make bank payments as fast as the computers that process them.

https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/other20230720a.htm

I fully expect to see a digital currency for the US in my expected lifetime.  It may happen concurrently alongside paper currency still being legal tender, but it's a matter of if, not when a digital USD is official.

 

On 10/2/2023 at 9:20 PM, MacGyver said:

A lot of businesses are incentivized from multiple directions to go card only.  
 

 

I'm sure among all the reasons you listed, there just aren't many folks who are insisting on using cash these days as a condition of doing business.  Some may want the option, but won't go elsewhere if it isn't available.  So all the hassle, risk, and costs you outlined...just ain't worth it for a really small fraction of revenue.  Probably a net negative on analysis.

[A.J. Holst]

3 hours ago, HenryStanley said:

I think the idea of a Digital Dollar is pretty interesting, especially with how things are moving in the world of finance. Here in Dubai, there's already a lot of talk about digital currencies, and it feels like the future is heading in that direction.

A hearty international welcome, is Dubai your forever home?

[Jeb48]

I admit, I do the majority of my purchases and bill paying electronically or by credit card, but I still carry plenty of cash and keep more in the gun safe. I found out how important that is the end of September when hurricane Helena came through are area in the form of flooding from NC. For most of a week what places we could get to were only taking cash since electricity and/or internet connections were down.  The few stores that were open were not all that crowded I believe partially because to many people don't carry or have cash on hand for such things.

[10-Ring]

I find myself using cash less and less. And as time goes on, I find that the cash that I do acquire piles up because I don't use it day to day. Which is fine because the easiest way to get rid of that cash is to buy a gun. 

For day to day purchases I have an Amazon Chase credit card that gives me cash back on most purchases and discounts on a lot of Amazon purchases. I pay it off each month. I carry my debit card as well just in case something happens with my credit card. 

I've accepted and made electronic payments via Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, etc. for items I've bought and sold here, as well as Marketplace. As a seller I like this option better than cash because it eliminates the possibility of counterfeit money. The buyer transfers the money to me via the app, I get notification that the payment was made, and we're done. I also remember making a few trips to buy vehicles 20+ years ago with an envelope full of cash and hopes of not getting robbed. Electronic payment drastically reduces those chances. 

I dabble in crypto, but haven't used it to buy anything person to person, and honestly couldn't tell you exactly how to do that. But it's attractive to me.  Say I buy $1,000 worth of "TGO coin" (I made that up) last week and it's now valued at $1,250 (this scenario happens all the time, and yes, it also goes the other way). If I buy a widget someone is selling and pay them in that TGO coin I bought last week, I basically just got a 25% discount. 

Truth is that cash is inconvenient. It's much quicker to simply tap that card on the card reader and be done than pay in cash and hope to God that the cashier is capable of counting back change. It's easier than waking into the gas station and standing in line to pay to fill up. It's safer because you have recourse if you are robbed, lose it, or it's otherwise destroyed. Truth of the matter is cash has very minimal advantage over electronic payment. 

Thank you for attending my TED talk on electronic transactions. 

[gregintenn]

1 hour ago, 10-Ring said:

I find myself using cash less and less. And as time goes on, I find that the cash that I do acquire piles up because I don't use it day to day. Which is fine because the easiest way to get rid of that cash is to buy a gun. 

For day to day purchases I have an Amazon Chase credit card that gives me cash back on most purchases and discounts on a lot of Amazon purchases. I pay it off each month. I carry my debit card as well just in case something happens with my credit card. 

I've accepted and made electronic payments via Venmo, Zelle, PayPal, etc. for items I've bought and sold here, as well as Marketplace. As a seller I like this option better than cash because it eliminates the possibility of counterfeit money. The buyer transfers the money to me via the app, I get notification that the payment was made, and we're done. I also remember making a few trips to buy vehicles 20+ years ago with an envelope full of cash and hopes of not getting robbed. Electronic payment drastically reduces those chances. 

I dabble in crypto, but haven't used it to buy anything person to person, and honestly couldn't tell you exactly how to do that. But it's attractive to me.  Say I buy $1,000 worth of "TGO coin" (I made that up) last week and it's now valued at $1,250 (this scenario happens all the time, and yes, it also goes the other way). If I buy a widget someone is selling and pay them in that TGO coin I bought last week, I basically just got a 25% discount. 

Truth is that cash is inconvenient. It's much quicker to simply tap that card on the card reader and be done than pay in cash and hope to God that the cashier is capable of counting back change. It's easier than waking into the gas station and standing in line to pay to fill up. It's safer because you have recourse if you are robbed, lose it, or it's otherwise destroyed. Truth of the matter is cash has very minimal advantage over electronic payment. 

Thank you for attending my TED talk on electronic transactions. 

.gov cannot push a button and seize all of your cash. Your electronic funds can easily be locked if you don’t cooperate.

[pop pop]

I am old school. BOO on Digital Dollar

[10-Ring]

6 hours ago, gregintenn said:

.gov cannot push a button and seize all of your cash. Your electronic funds can easily be locked if you don’t cooperate.

I'm speaking of money kept on hand for day to day purchases. For me that's a few thousand and wouldn't be life changing if it disappeared. I would be much more concerned about investment accounts and long term savings, which would be subject to the same risks and most of us probably have these types of accounts. The only way to get around that is to keep your money in a mattress or buried out back in a mayonnaise jar. Which brings on a whole other set of risks. 

[gregintenn]

5 hours ago, 10-Ring said:

I'm speaking of money kept on hand for day to day purchases. For me that's a few thousand and wouldn't be life changing if it disappeared. I would be much more concerned about investment accounts and long term savings, which would be subject to the same risks and most of us probably have these types of accounts. The only way to get around that is to keep your money in a mattress or buried out back in a mayonnaise jar. Which brings on a whole other set of risks. 

Right. I’m talking about the same. If electronic funds were shut down and you had no emergency cash, you couldn’t eat or buy gas or anything. I’m not talking about a long term deal, but just a random emergency.

Investing involves risk. I’m good with that.