Ban the Dollar!

Left libertarianish Rep. Jared Polis
(D-Colo.) has resorted to satire in defense of Bitcoin. In response
to Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) sending a letter to Federal Reserve
head Janet Yellen and other officials calling on them to
ban bitcoins because it can be used for illegal transactions,
Polis sent a letter seeking to ban dollars. He
notes:

By way of background, a physical dollar bill is a printed
version of a dollar note issued by the Federal Reserve and backed
by the ephemeral “full faith and credit” of the United States.
Dollar bills have gained notoriety in relation to illegal
transactions; suitcases full of dollars used for illegal
transactions were recently featured in popular movies such as
American Hustle and Dallas Buyers Club, as well as the gangster
classic, Scarface, among others. Dollar bills are present in nearly
all major drug busts in the United States and many abroad.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice study, “Crime in the
United States,” more than $1 billion in cash was stolen in 2012, of
which less than 3% was recovered. The United States’ Dollar was
present by the truck load in Saddam Hussein’s compound, by the
carload when Noriega was arrested for drug trafficking, and by the
suitcase full in the Watergate case. 

Unlike digital currencies, which are carbon neutral allowing us
to breathe cleaner air, each dollar bill is manufactured from
virgin materials like cotton and linen, which go through extensive
treatment and processing. Last year, the Federal Reserve had to
destroy $3 billion worth of $100 bills after a “printing error.”
Certainly this cannot be the greenest currency.

Printed pieces of paper can fit in a person’s pocket and can be
given to another person without any government oversight. Dollar
bills are not only a store of value but also a method for
transferring that value. This also means that dollar bills allow
for anonymous and irreversible transactions.

This sarcastic response is familiar ground for any bitcoin
supporter, but it’s interesting coming from the pen of a
congressman.

As for Yellen, she’s already said the Federal Reserve has

no authority to regulate bitcoins.