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Sure; every bill has a serial number—but that serial number isn't going to be recorded automatically by every single hand it passes through simply as a matter o

Sure; every bill has a serial number—but that serial number isn't going to be recorded automatically by every single hand it passes through simply as a matter of how the technology works. It's not at all far-fetched to imagine a particular bill passing through dozens of hands in multiple states without any unique record of it being recorded anywhere. A cash card, on the other hand, requires some kind of connection to a central authority to verify what it has on it—otherwise counterfeiting on a grand scale becomes all too easy. So every single transaction at least can be logged, whether or not it is by default—and there's no way for us as regular users of the technology to tell that it's not if the government says it's not. And given that it is a cash card, it will need to be loaded periodically if it is to remain useful—either that, or you'll just have to keep buying new ones with physical cash, which drastically decreases the convenience factor compared to either physical cash or a debit/credit card. It also drastically increases your risk footprint if you are attempting to remain below the radar. So while anonymity is theoretically possible, untrackability is not—and the moment your identity is associated with even one use of the card (whether by a security camera, or correlation with cell phone location data, or loading it from a debit or credit card, or whatever else), the entire history of that card is at least potentially linkable to you.

crazygringo 3y ago
> but that serial number isn't going to be recorded automatically by every single hand it passes through You'd be surprised. The ATM knows the serial number of every bill it dispenses, and all those 20's spent at a retailer tend to go straight to the bank where serials are again scanned in. But yeah, if you're trying to hide your activity from the government, you're going to need a complicated strategy of cards and transfers. This is no different from Bitcoin, or trying to spend cash you stole from a bank. Digital cash is perfectly fine if you don't want to be tracked by algorithms trying to build profiles of everyone. If you're trying to hide yourself from the police when they're trying to catch you personally... I mean, good luck. Even with paper currency.
- danaris 3y ago
  > If you're trying to hide yourself from the police when they're trying to catch you personally... I mean, good luck. Even with paper currency. I mean...frankly, I agree with you there. But there's a significant contingent—including around here—that seem to think that this is not only possible, but highly desirable. (Perhaps not necessarily "hide from the police when they're trying to catch you", but "avoid letting the government have even one iota more information on you than is strictly legally necessary", at the very least.)

crazygringo 3y ago

> but that serial number isn't going to be recorded automatically by every single hand it passes through You'd be surprised. The ATM knows the serial number of every bill it dispenses, and all those 20's spent at a retailer tend to go straight to the bank where serials are again scanned in. But yeah, if you're trying to hide your activity from the government, you're going to need a complicated strategy of cards and transfers. This is no different from Bitcoin, or trying to spend cash you stole from a bank. Digital cash is perfectly fine if you don't want to be tracked by algorithms trying to build profiles of everyone. If you're trying to hide yourself from the police when they're trying to catch you personally... I mean, good luck. Even with paper currency.

danaris 3y ago
> If you're trying to hide yourself from the police when they're trying to catch you personally... I mean, good luck. Even with paper currency. I mean...frankly, I agree with you there. But there's a significant contingent—including around here—that seem to think that this is not only possible, but highly desirable. (Perhaps not necessarily "hide from the police when they're trying to catch you", but "avoid letting the government have even one iota more information on you than is strictly legally necessary", at the very least.)