I’ve been expecting something like this for a long time. It’s called a “paper run” on banks, where people are desperate to get paper money they control instead of having virtual money they do not.
Importantly, in the last few years, several banking laws have been changed to make such confiscations, even of formerly sacrosanct “demand accounts”, much easier. Now banks can, on their own, declare a holiday up to two weeks with no government actions needed.
But this invokes some real weirdness. The US Bureau of Engraving and Printing only has two offices that print all US currency, and working around the clock, they can only maintain a token amount, some 5% of US daily retail. Mostly $1 bills, and proportionately fewer higher denomination bills. There is so little currency that they can’t even print $500 or $1000 bills, because nobody could make change for them.
But virtual money can be created or taken away with just a few strokes on a keyboard.
So if a “paper run” happened in the US, the banks would be emptied of currency in an hour. Then everyone would demand paper and refuse virtual money manipulated by the government.
Thus it would be a very good idea to have mattress money in a safe place at home.
Hurricanes come through here so I have always kept many rolls of quarters and many $1 bills to be able to make purchases if need be and not have to worry about change from a seller. I am going to add rolls of nickles to that stash.
The one store that was open after Ike came through, was a Shipley’s Donuts around the corner from my house. Their stoves are natural gas so they kept making sausage kolaches and sweet rolls and their parking lot was full to running over. They were using candles for light in the place.