Nathan Vardi, writing for Forbes.com, discusses means by which one could move money anonymously. Digital currencies, particularly e-gold, was mentioned as one of the means: cash is king
4. Digital currency. According to the Justice Department, between 1999 and 2005 child pornographers, hackers and identity thieves made use of E-gold, an online payment system in the Caribbean. Users provide an e-mail address to E-gold, then go to a currency exchange (like Cambist.net) to swap greenbacks, euros, yen and so forth for digital currency backed by gold; from there the customer is free to conduct anonymous transactions anywhere in the world. The feds indicted E-gold last year for money laundering and illegal money transmitting because it operated without an appropriate license. The company pleaded not guilty, and its lawyer, Andrew Ittleman, says E-gold fully complied with anti-money-laundering laws and did not need a license to operate.
The bad-mouthing about e-gold aside, how can anyone say cash is king in an era when the value of the US Dollar is falling by the day? In my opinion, gold is king, for value storage.
What are your thoughts?
