USD 2.0 - The Government's Bitcoin?

[bitaccumulation]

Would it be possible for the government to copy an instance of Bitcoin (or some variation) and then, instead of having miners, they create a specific amount of coins, that they then distribute?   They would simply have you exchange your current dollars for the new currency.   Kind of like people had to do with gold back during the gold confiscation in the US.  Poof - cashless society where everything is tracked.

Is this a doable government scenario, or is this just crazy, paranoid, conspiracy theory stuff?

[1715158410]

1715158410

[Akuda]

Could be interesting if they allowed mining still, they could use the processing power as a government botnet. Would never happen though, nice thought.

[antimattercrusader]

I don't think that is what the government wants. Unless they modified it alot, it would still require accountability. Being accountable with a transparent system that can't be manipulated, at least through the fiscal and monetary policies we see today, doesn't sound like something most current governments are interested in.

They could go all cashless with the dolloar right now and have everything tracked. 90% of it is that way right now.

[tdahsu]

Actually, the Canadian government is already doing things in the arena of digital currencies, with their Mint Chip:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MintChip

also:

http://www.mintchipchallenge.com

[Mike Christ]

Actually, the Canadian government is already doing things in the arena of digital currencies, with their Mint Chip:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MintChip

also:

http://www.mintchipchallenge.com

That's awfully interesting.  I wonder if those will gain more traction than Bitcoin?  After all, MintChip is backed by government ()

[tdahsu]

If it's backed by the government, it must be great.   

[ErebusBat]

I don't see Bitcoin (or its forks) being backed by any major government as a currency replacement, and here is why:

 - Governments like traceability... they want to know who is buying stuff to make bombs, or who isn't paying taxes.
 - People (at large) don't like the finality of bitcoin: (You forgot your password?  You got hacked?  Your 15yo son just downloaded a virus and after you took your computer to best buy)  Nope you can't get your coins back, no matter what... they are gone sorry... I don't care if you have proof they are gone.
 - You would need enough to replace the current USD.  When they started printing fiat is as good as gold, a gold certificate.  You would need something like that in the transitionary process.
 - People (at large) are not smart enough to secure or use bitcoin
 - People don't want their gardener seeing what porn sites they goto (see above, people will mess up coin control, tainting themselves)
 - People are 'hollywoodized' and think that if it is on a computer than some 17yo kid SOMEWHERE can hack into it in seconds.  Combined with people losing control of their keys this just reenforces the thought.  In short people actually believe that banks ledgers are more fool-proof and trustworthy than a decentralized p2p currency.

My head hurts... but there are some reasons for you.