There are all sorts of new types of technology available and on the not to distant horizon concerning chips.
I for one feel that all of this is just a stop gap measure, I think in the long run chips will become as obsolete as casino tokens.
Will this happen anytime soon? I doubt it but we are heading in that direction.
At this point in time, Every chip be it a roulette, a $1 chip or a fractional that is removed from the casino is costing them money.
I'm sure that they are both aware of this and also looking at alternatives.
Frankly, I'm surprised that casino's aren't using their now obsolete $1 slot tokens as replacements for $1 chips