[Mvhsz]

Ok you're arguing that there is no such thing as a liquid store of value that that offers a better return than a negative yield government bond?

So let's say I'm a bank with a stack of 1B in high denomination central bank notes. I calculate the rate of return as zero minus the annual cost of securing those and the annual risk that they are stolen or destroyed. Inflation isn't a factor because the bond is in the same currency. Based on your explanation that rate of return will be lower than the -0.11% that I would get from a german 30 year bond today. And there's simply nothing I can exchange those central bank notes for that would do any better than the bond.

Like OP I've never understood negative yield debt and I'm trying really hard to.

[YawningAngel]

Arguably, the combined cost and risk of loss when you store a pile of cash in a secured cellar is greater than 11bp.

There's also the fact that bonds can appreciate, so even if on the face of it you're taking an 11bp hit that might not be true in practice.