Sweden’s cashless future reveals a whole world of hidden risks

A sign on a window translates as ‘we are a cashless shop’ on a store in Stockholm. Sweden has less cash in circulation than anywhere else in the world, at around 1% of gross domestic product, according to the latest available data. — Bloomberg

Sweden may be about to take its world-beating cashlessness to the next level, as the pandemic threatens to push its notes and coins close to extinction.

Stefan Ingves, the governor of the Riksbank, recently remarked that some young Swedes “have no idea” what real money looks like anymore. It’s a future that has Ingves and others worried, and he says lawmakers may need to step in before it’s too late.