> Newspapers are writing interviews with merchants who (illegally) have stopped accepting cash, even though it's legal tender.

That's legal. https://www.federalreserve.gov/faqs/currency_12772.htm

Legal tender applies only to debt/creditor relationships.

▲

Tor3 6 days ago | parent [-]

The USA is not all the world. The US rules don't apply in other countries. Rules differ. In many countries _businesses_ have to accept legal tender. Including in my own. That's why it's such a big deal when businesses actually still refuse cash.

	▲	ceejayoz 6 days ago \| parent [-]
		https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_tender > Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment in court for any monetary debt. A country may separately require businesses to accept legal tender, if they feel like it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_tender#Status_by_country would appear to indicate this distinction is very common in the developed world.