500 euro note 26 April 2019. “Authorities increasingly suspect that they (€500 notes) are being used for illegal purposes, an argument that we can no longer ignore,” according to a high-ranking bank official, Benoît Cœuré. The euro was founded on 1 January 1999, when it became the currency of over 300 million people in Europe. For the first three years of its existence it was an invisible currency, only used in accountancy. Euro cash was not introduced until 1 January 2002, when it replaced the national banknotes and coins of the countries in eurozone 12, such as the Luxembourgish franc. Slovenia joined the
International status and usage of the euro euro exceed dollar reserves for the first time; Russia held 47.5% (up from 42% in 2008) in euro and 41.5% (down from 47%) in dollar leading the Central Bank of Russia to announce the euro had become the reserve currency of Russia. The usage of the euro is particularly strong in eastern Europe, not surprisingly in those that have joined the EU, with 54.8% of all loans in Bulgaria, and 85.2% in Latvia before Eurozone accession, being issued in euro rather than the local currencies. The following table shows central banks allocated reserves in euros and US dollar. A currency