Nordic countries revisit cashless strategies, highlighting the vulnerability of digital payments. Vitalik Buterin advocates using Ethereum as a backup for digital cash. (Synopsis: ETHTaipei 2025 April is coming, three highlights are a sneak peek, and Wang Xiaowei, the new executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, will share the stage with V God) (Background supplement: V God AMA Highlights: Is Rollups a good thing for Ethereum or is it blood-sucking? What is the ultimate narrative of ETH? 3.0 Progress... The Nordic countries, which led the global cashless wave, have recently shifted their strategy. Countries such as Sweden and Norway are encouraging cash retention and are considering offline payment systems to address the fragility of digital payment systems. This shift underscores the importance of physical cash reserves. Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum (Ethereum), also believes that Ethereum should be resilient and private, becoming a "digital cash backup" when centralized systems fail. Nordic reflections on cashless societies Nordic countries, notably Sweden and Norway, have actively promoted cashless societies. However, according to the Guardian (The Guardian), these countries have recently been wary of the risks of over-reliance on centralized digital payments. Doubts about the reliability of the system in a crisis are one of the main reasons, and Computer Weekly notes that geopolitical and cyber threats have also prompted it to reevaluate purely digital payments. Norway has legislated fines for merchants who refuse to accept cash, while Sweden encourages citizens to reserve cash, reflecting the recognition of the vulnerability of digital payments. Even in a digital society, cash is still indispensable as a physical backup. U.S. cash transactions still account for 14% of total payments in 2024, according to the Federal Reserve Services( )Federal Reserve. Cash has a unique advantage in crises such as power outages and network attacks, and does not rely on the power network ( refer to OpenDental Blog, Cash Essentials). This is exemplified by the fact that shops collect only cash during power outages, and low-income households and the elderly are more dependent on cash. The Nordics' consideration of an offline payment system also reflects concerns about the fragility of centralized systems and the search for support. In response to the Nordic pivot, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin commented that Ethereum has the potential to be a "digital cash backup" when centralized digital payments fail. He stressed that the Nordic countries are withdrawing the Cashless Society initiative because they are too vulnerable to the centralized implementation of this concept. Cash has proven necessary as a backup. Ethereum needs to be resilient enough and privacy enough to reliably play this role. Vitalik believes that Ethereum is strengthening system resilience and privacy through security initiatives, stateless clients, etc., maintaining decentralization, decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain can provide transaction backup without centralized control ( such as Substack, XRPL)。 Vitalik also responded to the practicality of zk as a secure private transfer, he believes that the zk solution is limited in popularity, mainly in computing zero-knowledge proof hardware and preventing double-spend processing, which requires additional costs: @rohangrey has done a lot of in-depth thinking in this direction. We basically know what to do, but there is a limitation that any solution relies on trusted hardware and/or post-event execution for double-spenders. Related stories Ethereum falls back five years ago! "ETH/BTC" fell below 0.02 to a new low since 2020, and the community FUD has not stopped Paradigm CTO fever Ethereum needs a new language, Sui founder shot back: Solidity and EVM 2018 have problems Ethereum OG sprayed "ETH is not saved": the foundation should admit four major mistakes, and in 2021 it had mastered the world's largest computing power ETH hardened! Pectra, Fusaka, Glamsterdam upgrade trio, the core developers tell you where Ethereum is in the future (V God evaluates the collapse of Nordic "cashless society": Ethereum can be used as a digital backup" This article was first published in BlockTempo's "Dynamic Trend - The Most Influential Blockchain News Media".
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Vitalik Buterin evaluates the collapse of the Nordic "cashless society": Ethereum can serve as a digital backup.
Nordic countries revisit cashless strategies, highlighting the vulnerability of digital payments. Vitalik Buterin advocates using Ethereum as a backup for digital cash. (Synopsis: ETHTaipei 2025 April is coming, three highlights are a sneak peek, and Wang Xiaowei, the new executive director of the Ethereum Foundation, will share the stage with V God) (Background supplement: V God AMA Highlights: Is Rollups a good thing for Ethereum or is it blood-sucking? What is the ultimate narrative of ETH? 3.0 Progress... The Nordic countries, which led the global cashless wave, have recently shifted their strategy. Countries such as Sweden and Norway are encouraging cash retention and are considering offline payment systems to address the fragility of digital payment systems. This shift underscores the importance of physical cash reserves. Vitalik Buterin, founder of Ethereum (Ethereum), also believes that Ethereum should be resilient and private, becoming a "digital cash backup" when centralized systems fail. Nordic reflections on cashless societies Nordic countries, notably Sweden and Norway, have actively promoted cashless societies. However, according to the Guardian (The Guardian), these countries have recently been wary of the risks of over-reliance on centralized digital payments. Doubts about the reliability of the system in a crisis are one of the main reasons, and Computer Weekly notes that geopolitical and cyber threats have also prompted it to reevaluate purely digital payments. Norway has legislated fines for merchants who refuse to accept cash, while Sweden encourages citizens to reserve cash, reflecting the recognition of the vulnerability of digital payments. Even in a digital society, cash is still indispensable as a physical backup. U.S. cash transactions still account for 14% of total payments in 2024, according to the Federal Reserve Services( )Federal Reserve. Cash has a unique advantage in crises such as power outages and network attacks, and does not rely on the power network ( refer to OpenDental Blog, Cash Essentials). This is exemplified by the fact that shops collect only cash during power outages, and low-income households and the elderly are more dependent on cash. The Nordics' consideration of an offline payment system also reflects concerns about the fragility of centralized systems and the search for support. In response to the Nordic pivot, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin commented that Ethereum has the potential to be a "digital cash backup" when centralized digital payments fail. He stressed that the Nordic countries are withdrawing the Cashless Society initiative because they are too vulnerable to the centralized implementation of this concept. Cash has proven necessary as a backup. Ethereum needs to be resilient enough and privacy enough to reliably play this role. Vitalik believes that Ethereum is strengthening system resilience and privacy through security initiatives, stateless clients, etc., maintaining decentralization, decentralized finance (DeFi) and blockchain can provide transaction backup without centralized control ( such as Substack, XRPL)。 Vitalik also responded to the practicality of zk as a secure private transfer, he believes that the zk solution is limited in popularity, mainly in computing zero-knowledge proof hardware and preventing double-spend processing, which requires additional costs: @rohangrey has done a lot of in-depth thinking in this direction. We basically know what to do, but there is a limitation that any solution relies on trusted hardware and/or post-event execution for double-spenders. Related stories Ethereum falls back five years ago! "ETH/BTC" fell below 0.02 to a new low since 2020, and the community FUD has not stopped Paradigm CTO fever Ethereum needs a new language, Sui founder shot back: Solidity and EVM 2018 have problems Ethereum OG sprayed "ETH is not saved": the foundation should admit four major mistakes, and in 2021 it had mastered the world's largest computing power ETH hardened! Pectra, Fusaka, Glamsterdam upgrade trio, the core developers tell you where Ethereum is in the future (V God evaluates the collapse of Nordic "cashless society": Ethereum can be used as a digital backup" This article was first published in BlockTempo's "Dynamic Trend - The Most Influential Blockchain News Media".