# PSA: Cash is king! **URL:** https://discuss.privacyguides.net/t/psa-cash-is-king/39555 **Category:** General **Created:** 2026-08-02T02:23:03Z **Posts:** 20 ## Post 1 by @juncture8425 — 2026-08-02T02:23:03Z I feel like this doesn’t really get the discussion it deserves, I rarely see it mentioned. We have a way to transact anonymously in person, to stop giving banks info about our spending habits, to support small businesses and, importantly, to support cash itself. Here in Australia, there have been talks of a cashless society, and ATM numbers have plummeted. Post COVID, some places don’t even accept cash at all. It’s an absolutely terrifying prospect, and something I think we take for granted currently. Rarely do I see the privacy community discuss cash, but I think we should encourage this more. In another comment I made recently, I highlighted how [Spain limited cash payments to a maximum of 1000 EUR.](https://portal-cec.consumo.gob.es/en/comunicacion/noticias/2024/ecc-spain-reminds-cash-payments-are-limited-maximum-amount-1000-euros)No thanks. I think inevitably, big brother will try and take our ability to transact privately away. Especially when the older generations pass, since they seem to make the majority of daily cash users up. I doubt all these smart watch tik tok zoomers will understand the importance of cash in principle. I use cash for everything I can. Coins are a PITA, so I have a coin jar I put them in and then deposit them into a bank when it’s full. It’s a cool way to save up. Usually things that are private are seen as tin foil hatty, but cash is not seen that way at all. I love that it provides privacy, and that’s it’s so normal. Let’s keep it around. Use it or lose it! --- ## Post 2 by @Bhaelros — 2026-08-02T11:09:16Z I am against the cash. Yes, it is good for privacy but bad for economy. Many shops will not even give you an invoice or receipt if you use cash, or they can just do reverse transaction in their cash registers, which is loss of tax money. I also hate carrying coins. --- ## Post 3 by @null — 2026-08-02T13:28:46Z > [@Bhaelros](#): > > Many shops will not even give you an invoice or receipt Sound like a country specific thing. I always have to say no to those fuckers. --- ## Post 4 by @Expert4870 — 2026-08-02T13:31:19Z > [@Bhaelros](#): > > I am against the cash. You can just dislike it and choose not to use it. You don’t have to oppose it :face_with_raised_eyebrow:. > [@Bhaelros](#): > > but bad for economy. Cards take huge percentages of every sale and as money goes around the economy they just keep getting more. It’s a tax by a private company which causes dead weight loss which is bad for the economy. You’re just enriching bankers and all their terrible ethical investments when you use cards. Cash has zero fees which encourages using it. But shops have to give discounts for cash to make it viable because they increase their prices because of cards. It’s not just good for privacy, it’s the only financial privacy we have with fiat. I’m against KYC, suspicious activity reports, AI analyzing transactions, targeted advertising based on your activity including location, stalking your social media accounts, sharingterrible security practices, personal identity information breaches, banning secure operating systems and debanking to supress speech. None of that would happen with cash. All of that happens when your use cards. --- ## Post 5 by @Bhaelros — 2026-08-02T13:44:47Z But then you will have no financial guarantee. Let’s say you buy something online, you pay in cash or in crypto, like for some of the VPNs, but then when something goes wrong, how can you request a refund? Let’s skip VPNs because they are very specific, let’s say you buy something in a store, then a year and half later you thing just broke. You know store will complain and will give you thousands of excuses to not give you a refund. If you use a credit card, you will save yourself against such actions by using charge back. I had similar cases, one airline refused to refund on Covid times, saying their flights were operational, but only for diplomatic flights, but they were operational, and refused to give me refund. A simple chargeback saved my money that time. If I paid in cash, that amount would be lost to me. I know it is not privacy friendly. I am against cash myself but that doesn’t mean I don’t understand its value for privacy. It is a choice in the end. --- ## Post 6 by @edmc — 2026-08-02T14:18:20Z I just wish something like Monero existed, widely used, and pegged 1:1 to the USD. That would allow a privacy-oriented cryptocurrency to exist primarily as a medium of exchange and not as an investment vehicle for “pump and dump” schemes. --- ## Post 7 by @Catalyst2422 — 2026-08-02T15:01:56Z > [@Expert4870](#): > > Cash has zero fees For a business it really doesn’t. You have to count/reconcile tills. Take it to the bank or have it collected. The bank will then charge you to take cash. Getting change from the bank costs money. Security and insurance costs are higher if you hold cash. Whether or not those fees are greater than card fees is another matter. But in countries with capped fees (like those in the EU) cash is often more expensive for a business. Yes cash does have the privacy advantage. But a cost advantage I don’t think so. --- ## Post 8 by @juncture8425 — 2026-08-02T21:18:46Z Monero is already mostly used as a medium of exchange I would say. Even if something did exist like XMR pegged 1:1 and you didnt have to wait 10 blocks from an output etc. etc. people would still think you’re a privacy freak for using it. Also the government would probably try and crush it like Monero. That’s what’s so good about cash, it’s been grandfathered in, it’s accepted. To be clear though, I would also love such a project to exist! --- ## Post 9 by @juncture8425 — 2026-08-02T21:21:37Z > [@Catalyst2422](#): > > But a cost advantage I don’t think so. Small businesses love cash. Hence why they sometimes offer a discount to customers when they pay with it. --- ## Post 10 by @juncture8425 — 2026-08-02T21:23:58Z This doesn’t sound so much like a cash vs card thing as it does a credit thing. If something goes wrong with a product you can still produce a receipt. If you’re talking about something like flights or whatever then it’s a different story. I’ve never paid for that with cash anyway. I’ve also not had a situation where I have had to charge something back actually. I can imagine there are situations where a credit card could be handy to pay for something in this instance. --- ## Post 11 by @WhinyHamletPayer — 2026-08-02T23:16:35Z Going cashless also puts unbanked households at a disadvantage, which are mostly older and black/Hispanic. --- ## Post 12 by @madialumbaugh — 2026-08-03T00:37:38Z It depends on the fees of the cards and the type of transaction. If you buy one small snack and the card charges 30 cents for the transaction, that’s not good for the store. --- ## Post 13 by @Catalyst2422 — 2026-08-03T09:01:27Z That’s generally not because of the card fees. But avoiding taxes > [@juncture8425](#): > > Small businesses love cash. Hence why they sometimes offer a discount to customers when they pay with it. That’s generally not because of the card fees. But avoiding taxes > [@madialumbaugh](#): > > It depends on the fees of the cards and the type of transaction. If you buy one small snack and the card charges 30 cents for the transaction, that’s not good for the store. A lot of newer processors don’t charge any fixed fees per transaction. Just a flat percentage. But yes, it does vary by business and use case. However as above. A lot of the small merchants who complain about the “fees” are really complaining about taxes --- ## Post 14 by @Regime6045 — 2026-08-03T12:48:01Z GNU Taler could be a decent compromise between the convenience of digital payments and the government’s fear of tax evasion. But I’m not optimistic that we can make it happen. --- ## Post 15 by @Expert4870 — 2026-08-03T13:35:01Z Cash vs banks vs credit cards vs PayPal vs gnu taler vs different popular crypto: > **[Comparison of Payment Methods](https://eylenburg.github.io/payments.htm)** > > Comparison of Payment Methods --- ## Post 16 by @Mxyzptlk — 2026-08-03T13:55:27Z > [@Catalyst2422](#): > > ![](https://forum-cdn.privacyguides.net/user_avatar/discuss.privacyguides.net/juncture8425/48/11848_2.png) juncture8425: > > > Small businesses love cash. Hence why they sometimes offer a discount to customers when they pay with it. > > That’s generally not because of the card fees. But avoiding taxes So small businesses are basically tax evasion schemes if they prefer cash? Please explain your generalized logic. --- ## Post 17 by @GolCor — 2026-08-03T14:03:12Z > [@Catalyst2422](#): > > That’s generally not because of the card fees. But avoiding taxes This is simply untrue. And as for banks charging for taking cash or giving change, perhaps that’s a localized issue in your area, but I have never had any bank charge for those services. And if I did encounter it, I wouldn’t be a customer of that bank for long. --- ## Post 18 by @trilobyte — 2026-08-03T15:01:32Z In some countries, most places will not charge you tax or pay tax if you pay with cash, but they must if you pay by card since there’s a record. Sometimes you even get a substantial discount if you pay in cash for a large purchase since the business can save a significant amount by not paying taxes. This is rare in the US. It happened one time I was severely dehydrated and tried to buy a $1 bottle of water with a credit card. The cashier asked me “Do you not have a dollar?”, to which I replied I had exactly $1 but that I wasn’t sure I had change for tax. He then requested the dollar, told me not to check if I had change to pay the tax, and handed me a water bottle without opening the cash register. This was back when businesses in the US were not allowed to charge credit card fees, so sometimes they’d get annoyed in situations like this. Nowadays they would often just charge you the fee since that was legalized. --- ## Post 19 by @walkingcowboy32 — 2026-08-03T15:24:02Z I wish something like [GNU Taler](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GNU_Taler) would pick up. Seems like a great system and it prevents tax fraud that usually happens when a company uses cash. A decent middle ground between cash and cards. Although from what I read you also can’t do chargebacks with this system because of how it works. Sadly I don’t think there’s much adoption, I think there is some in a town in Germany or something where some bank and stores use it. --- ## Post 20 by @Lukas — 2026-08-03T16:07:22Z > [@juncture8425](#): > > I feel like this doesn’t really get the discussion it deserves, I rarely see it mentioned. Everyone already got one shotted by 5% cashback. Freedom got sold for convenience and savings. I think that cash might actually die because of this, which is sad, but I will continue using it for as long as I can.