E-krona – Rising Cashless Sweden Sights Virtual Currency

Less than 10% of all transactions are done with cash in Sweden, according to an analysis by its central bank.  

Sweden’s corporate sector will initiate examining the feasibility of having the country transfer to a virtual currency, marking another move into the unrevealed world’s most cashless community. 

Per Bolund, monetary exchanges minister said that a survey will be initiated on Friday and is hoped to be done by the end of November in 2022. Previous chairwomen of the parliament’s finance committee, Kinberg Batra, will conduct the investigation. 

Sweden is among the leading nations in the world to propose virtual money. Its central bank is already controlling a pilot scheme with Accenture Plc to propose an automatic krona based on the identical blockchain technology that supports virtual currencies like Bitcoin. 

Governor Stefan Ingves announced in October that any settlement on whether to originate an e-krona must be held at the constitutional level or not. 

As stated by the government, Bolund declared that 

“It’s vital that the digitised currencies market operates securely, and that it’s accessible to everyone. Relying on how a virtual currency is formed and which technologies are used, it can have severe effects for the complete monetary system,” Bolund said. 

The Riksbank examined in October that Sweden’s currency usage dropped to its lowest extent ever, as the COVID-19 situation accelerated the change away from treasury notes and cash. Less than ten per cent of all transactions are made with currency in Sweden, as stated by the bank’s survey.