...more likely it is being considered for withdrawal from circulation altogether for all the usual war-on-cash reasons. Indeed, in large amounts, 500 euro notes

...more likely it is being considered for withdrawal from circulation altogether for all the usual war-on-cash reasons. Indeed, in large amounts, 500 euro notes are already selling for 515 euros for reasons of moving money outside of the banking system (demand very high in China), so as to avoid that system's prying eyes, and also for reasons of negative interest rates becoming the norm. The GBP 50 has the same bad reputation in bien pensant policy circles. Anonymous, large-denomination notes have this amazing attribute that they are not easily controllable by politicians and central banks, the latter in their quest for negative rates particularly stymied by them. By contrast wealth in your bank account, or the dematerialized stocks and bonds that you might own, can be switched off completely with a few SQL queries, on demand.