Myhrvold

Look, it’s not just nobodies like me who say this. Nathan Myrvold is XXX and a pretty smart (and pretty rich) guy. Here’s what he said about this a couple of decades ago when the first attempts at electronic cash were beginning [Levy, S. E-money in "Wired", December 1994)].

"There's a role for untraceable transactions. But it's not a panacea. Some people get very worked up about it. But there's been a very steady trend away from untraceable cash. There are cases where explicit traceability is a good thing. Like in my business expenses. I want them to trace it! All these things are there for a reason. They're not there as part of a plan by nefarious Big Brother. Look, I understand Chaum's concern to a certain degree. There's a lot of concern for privacy today. But I do worry about the idea of saving people from themselves. Just because I sign up for a traceable form of money doesn't mean I want my next-door neighbor to see my transactions."

Right. This is all about privacy.