Cash, crime, and cryptocurrencies

Joshua Hendrickson and William Luther

The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, 2022, vol. 85, issue C, 200-207

Abstract: In The Curse of Cash, Kenneth Rogoff lists reductions in criminal activity and tax evasion among the primary benefits of eliminating cash. We maintain that, to the extent that individuals are interested in purchasing illicit goods and services or evading taxes, eliminating cash will encourage them to switch to close substitutes. Hence, governments intent on realizing the benefits cited by Rogoff would not merely need to eliminate cash. They would also need to ban alternatives. This is especially relevant given the proliferation of cryptocurrencies, which provide a fair degree of anonymity for users.

Keywords: Bitcoin; Cash; Crime; Criminal activity; Cryptocurrency; Currency; Money; Money matching; Political economy; Tax; Taxation; Tax evasion (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C78 E41 E42 E50 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:85:y:2022:i:c:p:200-207

DOI: 10.1016/j.qref.2021.01.004

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