A closer look
Having a hyper-dense physical currency is great for your wallet but exceptionally convenient for organized crime. The €500 note was affectionately dubbed the 'Bin Laden' by investigators because everyone knew it existed, but nobody ever actually saw it. Smugglers realized they could pack millions of euros into a remarkably small briefcase, making it the undisputed gold standard for tax evaders and drug lords. The EU finally stopped issuing it in 2019 to slightly inconvenience the global mafia.
