One wonders why, if the NSA were going to do this, they would publish on crypto-currency first. I didn't read the paper, but here's the last paragraph: "In co

One wonders why, if the NSA were going to do this, they would publish on crypto-currency first. I didn't read the paper, but here's the last paragraph: "In conclusion, the potential risks in electronic commerce are magnified when anonymity is present. Anonymity creates the potential for large sums of counterfeit money to go undetected by preventing identification of forged coins. Anonymity also provides an avenue for laundering money and evading taxes that is difficult to combat without resorting to escrow mechanisms. Anonymity can be provided at varying levels, but increasing the level of anonymity also increases the potential damages. It is necessary to weigh the need for anonymity with these concerns. It may well be concluded that these problems are best avoided by using a secure electronic payment system that provides privacy, but not anonymity." I'm not sure what to take from that. In any paper, you know that most people will only read the intro and the conclusion.