Here’s an example of a predictable risk that is much more easily executed on the crypto variety of currency:
Israel’s Ministry of Defense announced on Monday that it was ordering the seizure of 187 crypto wallets that allegedly belong to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC.
In a document detailing the seizure order, the ministry’s National Bureau for Counter Terror Financing (NBCTF) said it was “convinced that the cryptocurrency wallets” in the list are property of the IRGC and are “used for the perpetration of a severe terror crime.”
The IRGC is sanctioned as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, and Israel, among other countries. [TechCrunch]
Sure, the blockchains on which cryptocurrency is based makes claims of being distributed, but it’s not distributed like cash, now is it? It takes a lot of work to collect well-hidden cash. Crypto-wallets? The big exchanges either cooperate with the government, or they locate their servers out of the reach of said governments – and those governments’ protective elements.
There’s a reason we have governments, and it isn’t, at its best, to be parasites. They provide protection, but, at their worst, they can be extremely destructive.
And basing currency on computers just makes it more vulnerable.
