There are lots of reasons why governments might desire to get rid of physical currency.
Crime - Physical money is the option of choice for criminals as it allows them to make off-record transactions so their activities are hard to trace
Tax - When otherwise legal business is conducted in cash, it’s possible for business income or employee pay to be undeclared or underreported, meaning the government is losing out on tax revenue. This is huge, and the gov really wants their slice of that cash.
Manufacturing and distribution - A minor point, but it is expensive to make physical currency, as well as to keep improving it to prevent forgeries and such. Getting rid of physical currency removes this problem.
I’m sure there are other reasons but those are what came to mind.
Despite these factors, any move to a fully cashless society is controversial, because not everyone is in a position where being fully digital is feasible. It has the worst effects on those who are already marginalised and disadvantaged in society, like the homeless, who may not even be able to open a bank account.
So I think it will be quite a long time until it might happen.
There are lots of reasons why governments might desire to get rid of physical currency.
Crime - Physical money is the option of choice for criminals as it allows them to make off-record transactions so their activities are hard to trace
Tax - When otherwise legal business is conducted in cash, it’s possible for business income or employee pay to be undeclared or underreported, meaning the government is losing out on tax revenue. This is huge, and the gov really wants their slice of that cash.
Manufacturing and distribution - A minor point, but it is expensive to make physical currency, as well as to keep improving it to prevent forgeries and such. Getting rid of physical currency removes this problem.
I’m sure there are other reasons but those are what came to mind.
Despite these factors, any move to a fully cashless society is controversial, because not everyone is in a position where being fully digital is feasible. It has the worst effects on those who are already marginalised and disadvantaged in society, like the homeless, who may not even be able to open a bank account.
So I think it will be quite a long time until it might happen.