IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/quaeco/v85y2022icp200-207.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Cash, crime, and cryptocurrencies

Author

Listed:
  • Hendrickson, Joshua R.
  • Luther, William J.

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.

Suggested Citation

  • Hendrickson, Joshua R. & Luther, William J., 2022. "Cash, crime, and cryptocurrencies," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 200-207.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:85:y:2022:i:c:p:200-207
    DOI: 10.1016/j.qref.2021.01.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062976921000041
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.qref.2021.01.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ricardo Lagos & Randall Wright, 2005. "A Unified Framework for Monetary Theory and Policy Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 113(3), pages 463-484, June.
    2. Joshua R. Hendrickson & Thomas L. Hogan & William J. Luther, 2016. "The Political Economy Of Bitcoin," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 54(2), pages 925-939, April.
    3. Ciaian, Pavel & Rajcaniova, Miroslava & Kancs, d'Artis, 2018. "Virtual relationships: Short- and long-run evidence from BitCoin and altcoin markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 173-195.
    4. William Luther, 2016. "Mises and the moderns on the inessentiality of money in equilibrium," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 29(1), pages 1-13, March.
    5. David Yermack, 2013. "Is Bitcoin a Real Currency? An economic appraisal," NBER Working Papers 19747, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Kenneth S. Rogoff, 2016. "The Curse of Cash," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10798.
    7. Antonakakis, Nikolaos & Chatziantoniou, Ioannis & Gabauer, David, 2019. "Cryptocurrency market contagion: Market uncertainty, market complexity, and dynamic portfolios," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 37-51.
    8. William J. Luther, 2016. "Cryptocurrencies, Network Effects, And Switching Costs," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 34(3), pages 553-571, July.
    9. Todd Keister & Daniel Sanches, 2023. "Should Central Banks Issue Digital Currency?," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 90(1), pages 404-431.
    10. Richard Wright & Erdal Tekin & Volkan Topalli & Chandler McClellan & Timothy Dickinson & Richard Rosenfeld, 2017. "Less Cash, Less Crime: Evidence from the Electronic Benefit Transfer Program," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 60(2), pages 361-383.
    11. Hazlett, Peter K. & Luther, William J., 2020. "Is bitcoin money? And what that means," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 144-149.
    12. Luther, William J. & Stein Smith, Sean, 2020. "Is Bitcoin a decentralized payment mechanism?," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(4), pages 433-444, August.
    13. Alvarez, Fernando & Lippi, Francesco, 2017. "Cash burns: An inventory model with a cash-credit choice," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 99-112.
    14. repec:cto:journl:v:20:y:2001:i:3:p:452-465 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Luther, William J., 2019. "Getting off the ground: the case of bitcoin," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 15(2), pages 189-205, April.
    16. Hendrickson, Joshua R. & Salter, Alexander William, 2016. "Money, liquidity, and the structure of production," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 314-328.
    17. Lawrence H. White, 2015. "The Market for Cryptocurrencies," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 35(2), pages 383-402, Spring/Su.
    18. Selgin, George & Lastrapes, William D. & White, Lawrence H., 2012. "Has the Fed been a failure?," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 569-596.
    19. William McBride & Kurt Schuler, 2012. "Where Is Private Note Issue Legal?," Cato Journal, Cato Journal, Cato Institute, vol. 32(2), pages 395-410, Spring/Su.
    20. Baur, Dirk G. & Hong, KiHoon & Lee, Adrian D., 2018. "Bitcoin: Medium of exchange or speculative assets?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 177-189.
    21. William J. Luther, 2018. "Is Bitcoin Intrinsically Worthless?," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 33(Spring 20), pages 31-45.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Simone Auer & Nicola Branzoli & Giuseppe Ferrero & Antonio Ilari & Francesco Palazzo & Edoardo Rainone, 2024. "CBDC and the banking system," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 829, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    2. Rainone, Edoardo, 2023. "Tax evasion policies and the demand for cash," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Hazlett, Peter K. & Luther, William J., 2020. "Is bitcoin money? And what that means," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 144-149.
    2. Lennart Ante, 2020. "A place next to Satoshi: foundations of blockchain and cryptocurrency research in business and economics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(2), pages 1305-1333, August.
    3. Christie Smith & Aaron Kumar, 2018. "Crypto‐Currencies – An Introduction To Not‐So‐Funny Moneys," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(5), pages 1531-1559, December.
    4. Klarin, Anton, 2020. "The decade-long cryptocurrencies and the blockchain rollercoaster: Mapping the intellectual structure and charting future directions," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    5. Luther, William J. & Stein Smith, Sean, 2020. "Is Bitcoin a decentralized payment mechanism?," Journal of Institutional Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(4), pages 433-444, August.
    6. William J. Luther, 2022. "Regulatory ambiguity in the market for bitcoin," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 35(1), pages 1-14, March.
    7. William J. Luther, 2018. "Is Bitcoin Intrinsically Worthless?," Journal of Private Enterprise, The Association of Private Enterprise Education, vol. 33(Spring 20), pages 31-45.
    8. Marthinsen, John E. & Gordon, Steven R., 2022. "Hyperinflation, Optimal Currency Scopes, and a Cryptocurrency Alternative to Dollarization," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 161-173.
    9. Anoop S Kumar & Taufeeq Ajaz, 2019. "Co-movement in crypto-currency markets: evidences from wavelet analysis," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 5(1), pages 1-17, December.
    10. White, Reilly & Marinakis, Yorgos & Islam, Nazrul & Walsh, Steven, 2020. "Is Bitcoin a currency, a technology-based product, or something else?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    11. Agur, Itai & Ari, Anil & Dell’Ariccia, Giovanni, 2022. "Designing central bank digital currencies," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 62-79.
    12. Davoodalhosseini, Seyed Mohammadreza, 2022. "Central bank digital currency and monetary policy," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    13. Flori, Andrea, 2019. "News and subjective beliefs: A Bayesian approach to Bitcoin investments," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 336-356.
    14. Kumar, Ashish & Iqbal, Najaf & Mitra, Subrata Kumar & Kristoufek, Ladislav & Bouri, Elie, 2022. "Connectedness among major cryptocurrencies in standard times and during the COVID-19 outbreak," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    15. Levulytė, Laura & Šapkauskienė, Alfreda, 2021. "Cryptocurrency in context of fiat money functions," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 44-54.
    16. Lee Alan Smales, 2020. "One Cryptocurrency to Explain Them All? Understanding the Importance of Bitcoin in Cryptocurrency Returns," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 39(2), pages 118-132, June.
    17. Hu, Yang & Hou, Yang (Greg) & Oxley, Les & Corbet, Shaen, 2021. "Does blockchain patent-development influence Bitcoin risk?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    18. de la Horra, Luis P. & de la Fuente, Gabriel & Perote, Javier, 2019. "The drivers of Bitcoin demand: A short and long-run analysis," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 21-34.
    19. Symitsi, Efthymia & Chalvatzis, Konstantinos J., 2019. "The economic value of Bitcoin: A portfolio analysis of currencies, gold, oil and stocks," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 97-110.
    20. Malavika Nair & Nicolás Cachanosky, 2017. "Bitcoin and entrepreneurship: breaking the network effect," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 30(3), pages 263-275, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Bitcoin; Cash; Crime; Criminal activity; Cryptocurrency; Currency; Money; Money matching; Political economy; Tax; Taxation; Tax evasion;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C78 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - Bargaining Theory; Matching Theory
    • E41 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Demand for Money
    • E42 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Monetary Sytsems; Standards; Regimes; Government and the Monetary System
    • E50 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Monetary Policy, Central Banking, and the Supply of Money and Credit - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:quaeco:v:85:y:2022:i:c:p:200-207. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620167 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.