Op-ed: Dark dollar dealings
With the conviction of Ross William Ulbricbht, founder of Silk Road, many proponents of bitcoin and other crypto-currencies fear that the government “might bolster efforts to regulate — and perhaps even ban the emerging cryptocurrency.”
In an Op-Ed published by US News and World Report, William J. Luther of the Sound Money Project says that’s not how things should go and that “the U.S. government should find it awkward to regulate bitcoin on the grounds that it facilitates illegal transactions” when its own currency — and the $100 bill in particular — has done so for years.”
Luther’s article masterfully questions why the U.S. dollar, probably the most attractive in the underground economy, is printed without question when on a typical day, only 5.2 percent of U.S. consumers carry a $100 bill.
He concludes that “the government would be mistaken to discourage monetary competition on the grounds that some bitcoin users will purchase illicit goods or avoid paying taxes. It would also be hypocritical, for the dollar is still the criminal’s currency of choice. So long as the United States continues to produce cash — and $100 bills, in particular — it has no business regulating bitcoin.”
