End the $100 Bill to Pressure Russia? (WSJ)

[dualstow]

For years, Russians’ bill of preference has been the $100. As of 2019, more than 661,500 pounds of $100 bills were in Russia—many of them stashed in lumpy mattresses and home-sewn money belts. That’s $31.5 billion.

Messing with the $100 note at all causes panic in Russia. Millions of Russians were alarmed in 1996 when Washington redesigned the $100 bill to be less easily counterfeited.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-russia ... 1652125119

[Xan]

For years, Russians’ bill of preference has been the $100. As of 2019, more than 661,500 pounds of $100 bills were in Russia—many of them stashed in lumpy mattresses and home-sewn money belts. That’s $31.5 billion.

Messing with the $100 note at all causes panic in Russia. Millions of Russians were alarmed in 1996 when Washington redesigned the $100 bill to be less easily counterfeited.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/for-russia ... 1652125119

Inflation seems to be doing that job pretty well.

Shouldn't we have a $500 bill by now?

[dualstow]

Yes, but it should be a coin!

[Mark Leavy]

Yes, but it should be a coin!

Here you go!

[dualstow]

Yes, but it should be a coin!

Here you go!

Exactly. Worth a bit less right now, but it's certainly what was on my mind.

what a world it would be if we could exchange these coins on a daily basis, and buy & sell them in a frictionless way, ie very near spot.

Back on topic: It was suggested in the comments under the article that too many people outside would suffer if $100 bills were declared worthless. But, I think they missed the point that most of the rest of the world would be able to trade them in. Cartels probably wouldn’t like it very much.