There are two fallacies I frequently feel the need to debunk in this
discussion.
- Cash is anonymous
- Cash is an "old" or "low" technology.
When a serious crime is committed you might be surprised how much the
police can do to trace cash. Serial numbers in and out of ATMs and
shops are tracked, and frequently your face is captured by cameras in
stores, ATMs and vending machines.
Modern cash is high technology. Look at a UK or European note
already. Holograms, nano-technology, advanced materials
science... It's well past the point of being worth forging, and it is
likely that future banknotes will use einks, embedded printable
passive electronics to do all of the things people hope or fear of
purely digital cash, such as time-out, store variable value, and be
more traceable.
The function cash really performs is a resilience buffer for person to
person transactions that works independently of electrical power and
Internet. Smart people at the top are never going to let that slide,
because it would be national security suicide and practically inviting
civil unrest.
Cash, in evolving forms is here to stay, but it may not have all the
properties we think it has and defend it for.
- Cash is anonymous
- Cash is an "old" or "low" technology.
When a serious crime is committed you might be surprised how much the police can do to trace cash. Serial numbers in and out of ATMs and shops are tracked, and frequently your face is captured by cameras in stores, ATMs and vending machines.
Modern cash is high technology. Look at a UK or European note already. Holograms, nano-technology, advanced materials science... It's well past the point of being worth forging, and it is likely that future banknotes will use einks, embedded printable passive electronics to do all of the things people hope or fear of purely digital cash, such as time-out, store variable value, and be more traceable.
The function cash really performs is a resilience buffer for person to person transactions that works independently of electrical power and Internet. Smart people at the top are never going to let that slide, because it would be national security suicide and practically inviting civil unrest.
Cash, in evolving forms is here to stay, but it may not have all the properties we think it has and defend it for.