The rise of the Cryptocurrency
After thinking about it for a while I have come up with the following reasons why there may be a decline in paper money and a move towards cryptocurrencies.
Cash or paper money is continuously losing its value, this due to nonstop inflation. Each year your paper money has less and less purchasing power and any person holding on to their money in the form of cash is losing value in an ongoing manner.
The very origin of paper money was due to people no longer wishing to carry gold or silver around with them. They then stored these commodities with secure institutions in their vaults, these institutions then started issuing bank notes (guarantees) which could be exchanged for the gold or silver to the value of the bank note. Individuals then started using these bank notes for transactions without the need of going to the institution (aka bank) to exchange the notes for gold. These notes were easier to carry around and they knew that each note was guaranteed by an institution which held the gold or silver for the value of the note. Eventually somehow inflation came into existence. The exact causes for inflation are much debated and one would not be surprised if plain old greed had a hand to play. Governments and banking institutions realised that there would never be enough gold or silver to guarantee the amount of paper money they needed so they moved away from the idea of having to guarantee each bank note. Since then inflation has been chewing away at the value of cash money nonstop making it a very bad idea to hold onto your assets in this form. This being the reason that people invest in property, art, commodities and shares which retain value much better than paper money. Crypto currencies would be a better option than cash at this time as well chosen currencies are actually gaining value.
There is a war on cash. Governments all around the world are currently trying very hard to limit the amount of paper money an individual can hold and would prefer it if all bank notes of a large denomination are phased out. The reasons they state for this include money laundering and that cash is used to fund terrorist activities. Many feel that the actual the reason for this is if all transactions were forced to be digital it would be much easier to keep an eye on individuals incomes and then more effectively tax the crap out of them. Which is highly likely. Governments also feel that without any cash in circulation they would have more control over their people and their economy. They could curb "illegal" activities by tracing transactions and removing such individuals from their society (aka prison). With all transactions there would always be a third party involved (banks) who would record all transaction information electronically so it can be used when needed later. With a cashless society governments could also use central banks to manipulate interest rates in order to encourage or discourage the spending done by their sheeple and in this way "manage" inflation. One more cherry on the top of this cake would be that the governments and their corporate friends could actually have a large influence on how individuals spend their earnings and they could potentially even decide which goods or services you may pay for regardless of how much electronic credit you hold in your bank account. This would be where crytocurrencies will eventually come into play as they provide anonymity and security from prying eyes who are just keen to get their cut via taxes and exorbitant fees.
This war on cash would be the precise reason that policymakers in the US are currently pushing for the abolishment of $50 and $100 bank notes, why in Europe the Central European Bank has stopped creating new €500 bank notes and distribution of these notes will stop entirely by 2018. Countries such as Venezuela and India have taken a more direct approach and banned the 100 Bolivar bank note (Venezuela) and India has demonetized their 500 and 1000 rupee bank notes, this in a country where less than 50% of society has a banking account or even access to a bank.
There has been a large increase in online spending. Individuals are more likely to purchase goods or pay for services online more now than ever before and banks are acutely aware of this, often making it more difficult with endless lists of bureaucratic procedures. Often times deciding that person from country A may not pay for goods from person/shop in country B. Furthermore banking institutions and government would also like a cut of this monetary pie by imposing duties, taxes and unnecessary fees on transactions at their convenience. Such vile "leisure" activities are much harder to apply to cryptocurrencies. With cryptocurrencies being used an individual's location is not taken into account providing all people with equal rights globally to spend their currency wherever they wish free from procedures which invade their privacy and cause undue inconvenience while charging ridiculous fees.
Banks charge very large fees for sending international payments. With many individuals living in different countries from their relatives and friends, banking institutions have cashed in on the fact that such individuals may need to send funds to their family or friends from time to time. Banks use systems such as SWIFT to send international payments and charge the person sending such funds various fees including taxes and duties making the price of such transactions excessive. Payment providers such as Moneygram and Western Union found their niche in the market as a result of this and for a long time have provided more or less affordable services for international payments. However their fees are still a little excessive and many countries have foreign currency laws in place which make it very hard to obtain such payments. With Cryptocurrencies one could simply send a few coins the receivers online wallet with minimal fees and better yet the receiving party would receive the entire amount free from manipulated exchange rates such as those used by banks and monetary institutions.
There are many more reasons why cryptocurrencies will more than likely be the future and more advantages will become apparent as the process continues. However in the end most of these advantages will come down to a Freedom of some kind.