Gerald Darmanin has argued that digital transactions are much easier to trace.
France’s Justice Minister Gerald Darmanin has proposed abolishing cash transactions, arguing that digital payments – including cryptocurrencies – are much easier to trace than physical money and would help authorities combat drug trafficking and other criminal activity.
Speaking before a Senate commission on Thursday, Darmanin said that “a large part of daily delinquency and even criminal networks rely on cash,” and declared that “the end of cash would prevent the establishment of drug dealing points.”
Darmanin, who previously oversaw public finances as Minister of Public Action and Accounts, acknowledged that banning physical money wouldn’t eliminate the drug trade, but insisted that “once the money is traceable,” it becomes “more complicated” for both consumers and dealers to escape financial oversight.
French minister of justice proposes to ban cash to make life harder for drug dealers. He is aware that it will make them use crypto instead, but argues that crypto is easier to trace than cash. It’s been a long way from “BTC is drug money” to “crypto is easier to trace”. https://t.co/f5SpWSFIJJ
— Clément Lesaege (@clesaege) May 22, 2025
The justice minister admitted that criminal groups would likely shift to using cryptocurrencies in place of cash – but argued this would be an improvement, since “crypto is often easier to trace” due to blockchain records and new EU rules on transaction monitoring. Under the European Council directive set to come into force next year, crypto asset providers will be obligated to collect and share sender and recipient data with tax authorities, effectively ending anonymous crypto transfers within the bloc.
The proposal to ban cash is likely to face resistance from the French public, who continue to view it as a vital tool for privacy and budgeting. A 2024 survey by the Banque de France found that while card payments are now dominant (used by 62% of respondents), 60% still consider access to cash “important or very important.” Respondents cited anonymity (40%), immediate settlement (37%), and better control over spending (31%) as key advantages of physical money.
Critics have warned that banning cash altogether could raise concerns about financial surveillance and undermine personal freedoms. Darmanin acknowledged those concerns but argued that illicit cash circulation poses a greater systemic risk. “It is good that we monitor notaries, banks, and real estate,” he said, “but it’s time we look at parallel cash circuits that bypass the formal economy altogether.”
Restrictions on cash transactions in France and across the EU have already tightened in recent years. In France, any cash payment over €1,000 to a professional entity is prohibited and punishable by a fine of up to 5%, unless the person has no bank account or other means of digital payment. For transactions between private individuals, the cap is €1,500, unless the parties sign a written contract with full names and contact details, according to guidelines from the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
At the EU level, the European Parliament passed a directive imposing a bloc-wide hard cap of €10,000 on cash transactions starting in 2027. According to the European Commission, the aim is to close loopholes that allow criminal groups to move large sums anonymously.
European banks are bankrupt. They all are in desperate need of cash ( deposits).
My sister is limited to € 300 a day , while they have a company with a few million turnover.
But she has to explain to her bank why she needs the cash.
Watch this Empires technocratic directive lockstep around the collective west, brought to you by the Zionists mocking bird media. They can take their programmable CBDC and shove it were the sun don’t shine. Increase cash transactions and don’t support those retailers who won’t accept cash.
I pay EVERYTHING with cash. If retailers or businesses reject cash, just grab your goods, leave the proper cash amount on the counter and leave the shop.
Brilliant!
I like this idea but didn’t realize it was illegal until after a big blowup trying it at rainbows end. Apparently it’s a store owners/retailers perogative to accept whatever form of payment they like e.g., digital only. It’s only when you owe them money, e.g. a debt that you can pay them whatever you like e.g. cash, whether they like it or not but they have the right to deny it initially before a transaction has taken place. Sucks eh.
Maybe a rip-off enterprise like Rainbow’s End will risk a ruckus with a customer blowing up on Social Media and in public. You have to stand your ground!
A lot of people wake up and use cash only. And I mean a LOT.
And most of the times you pay something there is a chance to educate people with a little one-liner 😉
While digital currency and crypto seem like the best thing since sliced bread, bankers and politicians cannot see beyond their own little cubicles to recognise the fact that there are people who do not use a computer or a phone with apps. The digital milieu is prone to outages, slippages and hallucinations, very convenient for the less honest among us.
Well he can stick his digital currency up his derrierre.
Always taking away.
Like many things, leaders are becoming obsolete.
Has the French Justice Minister got a back-up plan for when the electric power goes out?
Maybe he should check out how Spain and Portugal came to a standstill when the power supply crashed rececently.
it also happened in Zweden recently…. panic
Cash is king.
Once they take away our right to use cash we will be living in a totalitarian nightmare…..they will have control of everything.
Bring in millions of criminals under the guise of humanitarian resettlement/mass migratition and allow them to create financial problems that only introducing Digital ID’s and Digital currencies can fix.
AND we will still have millions of criminals after they have done it.
This would work, if most nations were not run by criminals. This is one gang, looking to corner the market.