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Richard Fiero:
> > > As the article excerpted below states, in 2001 there was
> > > about $620 billion dollars in US currency out there
> > > somewhere and 65% was in $100 dollar bills.
James A. Donald:
> > Presumably most of those $100 bills are changing hands in
> > suitcases and brown paper bags, exposing the owners to
> > considerable personal risk in each transaction. However, in
> > many countries, most for example Argentina, the government
> > routinely engages in bank robbery, making the banking system
> > pretty much unusable.
> >
> > Many of those holders of bags of $100 bills would find a quiet
> > electronic version very handy. . . .
Richard Fiero
> As the article points out, $1 million fits in a briefcase nicely
> but the Euro's largest denomination is 500 which will allow $1
> million to fit into a purse.
All the easier to be confiscated. Having large amounts of cash
money on you is "illegal" everywhere, in the sense that those with
state power will take it from those without, and the official who
catches you generally gets to keep most of the money, unless
someone higher up catches him. Bank money is only safe to the
extent that the bigger sharks scare off the smaller.
> From the article: " I am not an expert in cryptography, but I
> think it may take quite a while to devise an electronic money
> that guarantees anonymity in the same way that cash does."
We have devised it already. Implementation and deployment is a
little harder.
--digsig
James A. Donald
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