> Has anyone found a use for cash outside financing criminal operations
Buying groceries.
Buying groceries.
Many if not all small businesses like hotdog vendors, flea markets etc have completely dropped cash because it's expensive and inconvenient.
Once the costs of cash management is higher than that of cards or digital transactions, there is no incentive.
It's easy to say "we need cash for privacy" but if people are doing better business without cash, it's hard to convince them.