‘Eurozone banks stop issuing €500 notes, but cash-loving Germany delays’

Most European banks have stopped producing 500 Euro notes:

27 January 2019

Central banks in 17 of the Eurozone’s 19 economies stopped issuing €500 ($570) notes on Sunday, but cash-loving Germany and Austria are delaying the move until later this year.

The German Bundesbank and the Austria’s Oesterreichische Nationalbank said they needed more time to “ensure a smooth transition” toward a system in which €200 will be the largest denomination note.

The European Central Bank stopped producing the large, violet-colored €500 note in 2016, citing its use in “illicit activities” such as money laundering, tax evasion and terrorism financing. …

Bundesbank chief Jens Weidemann denounced the decision, saying it would have little impact in combating crime and instead “damage confidence” in the euro.

A columnist in Die Welt newspaper lamented that the note’s abolition would “restricts citizens’ freedom,” while weekly magazine Der Spiegel ran the headline: “The end of the 500 euro note: Is this the end of cash?” …

The head of the Center for Economic Studies (CES) in Munich, Clemens Fuest, said the ECB wanted to make it harder for banks to avoid paying negative interest rates by parking their money in cash.

“The abolition of €500 notes undermines confidence in the ECB,” Fuest said. “It creates the impression that the move’s primary goal is bringing interest rates further into negative territory.” https://www.dw.com/en/eurozone-banks-stop-issuing-500-notes-but-cash-loving-germany-delays/a-47253814

Yes, the elimination of the €500 note is a move to a cashless society and another move towards loss of freesom.

Here is something about this from Fortune back in 2016:

The End of the 500 Euro Note Could Lead to a Cashless Economy

After months of heavy deliberation, the European Central Bank decided Wednesday to phase out the €500 banknote . . .

The move may also signify a greater push into a cashless economy, in which credit cards, digital payments and perhaps, one day, even bitcoin dominate.

“Eliminating the bank note could help temper criminal activity, but in reality the implications are much broader,” analysts from Stratfor wrote in a February research note. “The idea is just the most recent step in an ongoing process moving Europe, and indeed the world, closer to an entirely cashless economy.”

Indeed, European governments have been making efforts over the past few years to reign in cash. And governments also have a reason to create a cashless society: digital transactions make it far easier to regulate cash flows in and out of the country, and keep track of who is holding on to what. After all, who digitally transferred money where can be easily tracked—cash on the other hand, generally does not come with GPS. That would allow governments to make policies such as negative interest rates and capital controls potentially more effective.

And according to some experts, other high denomination currencies around the world will be next to get the axe.

Peter Sands, former CEO of Standard Charter, predicted in a February paper that the 1,000-Swiss franc ($1,045 USD), 10,000-yen ($94 USD), and $100 note should be the next to go …

Meanwhile, the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden are already leading the way to the cashless society—in part because they can’t keep track of cash, and suspect large portions of their currency are being used for illegal activities. Denmark has even made it a goal to become cashless by 2030. http://fortune.com/2016/05/04/cashless-economy-500-euro/

So, it is becoming increasingly clear to various ones that Europe is moving towards a cashless society and the elimination of the 500 euro note is seen as a step in that direction.

A few years back, the Austrian designer of the 500 euro note, Robert Kalina, was asked his view about its elimination. Notice how he answered a couple of questions about it (the following is a machine translation from German, with the original German below it):

May 5, 2016

Mr. Kalina, the ECB abolishes the you have designed 500 for allegedly favoring the crime. So you are a terrorist aide …

No, that’s nonsense, of course (laughs). But look: Switzerland has, since 1907, I believe, 1000 francs bills and it would indeed occur to anyone to call the Swiss National Bank as terrorist aide.

So you do not believe in the abolition of the 500-euro note?

No. I do not believe that the abolition of the 500ers change anything. And I really think the abolition problematic. In my opinion, this is a personal restriction of freedom. Cash has always been a symbol of freedom.

5 Mai 2015

Herr Kalina, die EZB schafft den von Ihnen entworfenen 500er ab, weil er die Kriminalität begünstigen soll. Sie sind also ein Terrorhelfer…

Nein, das ist natürlich Unsinn (lacht). Aber schauen Sie: Die Schweiz hat, seit 1907 glaube ich, 1000-Franken-Scheine und es würde ja auch niemandem einfallen, die Schweizer Nationalbank als Terrorhelfer zu bezeichnen.

Sie halten also nicht viel von der Abschaffung des 500-Euro-Scheins?

Nein. Ich glaube nicht, dass die Abschaffung des 500ers irgendetwas ändert. Und ich halte die Abschaffung wirklich für problematisch. Meiner Meinung nach ist das eine persönliche Einschränkung der Freiheit. Bargeld ist immer ein Symbol für Freiheit gewesen. http://www.sueddeutsche.de/wirtschaft/-euro-schein-was-der-schoepfer-des-ers-zu-seiner-abschaffung-sagt-1.2980221

And he is correct that the elimination of the 500 euro note reduces personal freedom.

The USA used to have $10,000 notes, $1000 notes, etc. Now the $100 bill is its largest and some people want that gone (watch Eliminate the $100 bill?).

I have heard calls for eliminating the US hundred dollar bill and the 500 Euro note supposedly to fight terrorism. But I would like to remind everyone that about 4 decades ago, the USA imposed reporting requirements on financial transactions of $10,000 or more to supposedly stop drug dealers, tax evaders, and terrorists.

But we have more terrorists, no less drugs, and probably as many tax evaders.

Consider, however, that the elimination of cash could lead to the fulfillment of the following prophecy:

16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man: His number is 666. (Revelation 13:16-18)

It will be a European power that will fulfill the above prophecy of 666 (watch Can You Prove that the Beast to Come is European?).

Back in May 2016, I wrote:

It will likely take computers aided with artificial intelligence to aid in the fulfillment of the scriptures in Revelation 13:15-18, as well as cyber-spying/monitoring. I do believe that cyber monitoring will be used by the European Beast, King of the North, 666 power.

This type of financial surveillance could not have happened during the time of the Apostle John as there was no real way to monitor many financial transactions then (despite the fact that ‘preterists’ believe this was fulfilled almost 2000 years ago, see also The Dangerous Rise of Preterists). The same was true for all the centuries that followed until the late 20th and now the 21st century. But now not only does the technology exist to monitor most financial transactions, the political will is there as well.

We are nearing the time of great distress and even more massive financial monitoring. More and more are publicly calling for it. The phasing out of the 500 euro note is a step in that direction.

Can you see this? (Thiel B. ‘The End of the 500 Euro Note Could Lead to a Cashless Economy’. COGwriter, May 5, 2016)

Let me add that the European Union is also in the process of setting up the first EU-wide prosecutor’s office in order to prosecute EU financial crimes–buying and selling without the mark of the beast, etc. will be considered a crime in Europe in the future (watch also EU Setting Up 666 Enforcer?).

We appear to be in the time that Jesus referred to as “the beginning of sorrows” (Matthew 24:4-8), which will be followed by the “great tribulation” (Matthew 24:21)–which while not here yet, will include a time of monitoring and control of buying and selling (Revelation 13:16-18).

We are getting closer to the end.

Some items of possibly related interest may include:

Sweden going to ‘666’ cashlessness? Sweden continues to reduce the amount of currency notes and coins in circulation as more and more Swedes turn to digital forms of payments. Even ‘farmers’ markets’ take debit and credit cards. Will this eliminate crime or lead to the rise of the Beast and Antichrist power? Could what is happening in Sweden be a prelude to the control of buying and selling that Revelation 13:16-18 associates with 666? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues from Stockholm, Sweden.
EU Setting Up 666 Enforcer? The European Union is in the process of establishing the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.This is a major, first-of-its-kind move, with the EU setting up a European-wide prosecutor’s office that will have power to investigate and charge people for financial crimes committed against the EU. It looks like this type of office may end up persecuting those that do not have the mark of the Beast when they “buy or sell” as that will later be considered a financial crime in Europe. What does 666 mean? How has that name be calculated? How can we be certain that this is a prophecy for Europe and not Islam? Is the appointment of this new office of significant prophetic importance? Dr. Thiel addresses these issues and more by pointing to scriptures, news items, and historical accounts in this video.
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