Digital Currency Use on the Rise in Sweden

The Sovereign Society (March 19, 2012)

As Jeff Opyke discussed earlier, the rise of digital currency is already spreading its way around the globe. In this article from Yahoo! Finance today, we can see the Sweden is leading the charge among European countries in transitioning away from paper currency.

Bills and coins represent only 3 percent of Sweden’s economy, compared to an average of 9 percent in the eurozone and 7 percent in the U.S., according to the Bank for International Settlements, an umbrella organization for the world’s central banks.

But, as Jeff also warns, the change to electronic transactions also puts more power over your money into the hands of governments and banks. As the article notes, some Swedes are already seeing how this “new age” of paperless money could hurt their bottom line.

But there are pockets of resistance. Hanna Celik, whose family owns a newspaper kiosk in a Stockholm shopping mall, says the digital economy is all about banks seeking bigger earnings.

Celik says he gets charged about 5 Swedish kronor ($0.80) for every credit card transaction, and a law passed by the Swedish Parliament prevents him from passing on that charge to consumers.

“That stinks,” he says. “For them (the banks), this is a very good way to earn a lot of money, that’s what it’s all about. They make huge profits.”

Still, Jeff believes that the change to digital currency will continue to grow, and he still sees plenty of opportunity to profit from it. To learn more about his research, click here to read his latest report on the “Death of Cash.”

Digital Currency Use on the Rise in Sweden

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