Cashless

[FoxtArt]

Yes you can track the coin or unit (Ethereum & Bitcoin for example) because they are explicitly designed for it, however they track back to the original key which is public though an individuals identity isn't necessarily known. There are both public & private keys.

A nation state has access to the metadata that can track back an individual to their public key.

There are other cryptocurrencies that are designed for anonymity, Monero for example.

The ledgers from named cryptocurrencies above are always public however the private key holder is not.


Its very complicated. Best distillation I got.

Good summary. Most of the time the gov' can track e.g. the bitcoin transactions down, but what gov really wants is hands in commercial or it's own gov cryptocurrencies. China has already done just that. It'll probably be some time before the monetary supply here moves that direction (two decades, maybe?), but there is certainly groups of our gov already advocating for it now under a guise of accountability "you can track where we spend each dollar!" and it almost seems inevitable unless some other more attractive unicorn flies into view in the next few years with even juicer gov' meat. But yeah, it's not accountability, it's total control and tracking what matters most.

[ChickNorris]

Good summary. Most of the time the gov' can track e.g. the bitcoin transactions down, but what gov really wants is hands in commercial or it's own gov cryptocurrencies. China has already done just that. It'll probably be some time before the monetary supply here moves that direction (two decades, maybe?), but there is certainly groups of our gov already advocating for it now under a guise of accountability "you can track where we spend each dollar!" and it almost seems inevitable unless some other more attractive unicorn flies into view in the next few years with even juicer gov' meat. But yeah, it's not accountability, it's total control and tracking what matters most.

Bitcoin is just a public untrusted ledger. The government uses a private trusted ledger hosted by banks. It is called SWIFT. Whereas with cryptocurrencies the ledgers are public & untrusted. Private trusted ledgers will always be more efficient.

Separating the use of blockchain from cryptocurrency, there are applications to manage commerce responsibly.