I feel like we're getting to this one way or another. Either via local govts like the U.S. rolling this out, or through crypto-currency, if they solve adoption,

I feel like we're getting to this one way or another. Either via local govts like the U.S. rolling this out, or through crypto-currency, if they solve adoption, ease of use, inflation, identity, and sybil attacks-BIG IF. It'd be nice if you could for instance use notaries to tie your SSN to a coin wallet, then have a way to regain lost keys/passwords, and if they had some fraud protection (ability to rollback transactions without fees), or insurance at the least. The government I think has too many special interests, but syndicalists/unionists working in tandem across country-lines could create a global currency without govt control. I've thought a lot about this, researching different technologies on bitcoin. I'm no expert in crypto by far, but what I envision would be hard - with current chains being built as far as I can tell. Maybe in 5-10 years though.