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Comment by mschuster91 | Hacker News Reader

The advantage of cash is that it's not too difficult for a thief to drain my bank account without traces.

When a thief tries to steal a wad of cash from my home safe though, he has the risk of leaving prints/DNA on the scene, getting caught on camera or being spotted by a neighbour.

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This is essentially the opposite of reality. If someone steals your cash nobody gives a shit. No csi team goes hunting them down.

Bank fraud on the other hand is the banks problem. If someone steals your money the bank makes it whole.

Huh? I don't remember the Cyprese people who got their accounts drained by the government ever got their money back.

With cash the cops would have to raid my apartment to get the money (also likely they wouldn't know about the money in the first place, so no cop raid there!).

And there are countries in which the police would just shoot you and take your cash. That doesn't say anything about whether cash is better than electronic payments, it says don't live in such shitholes.

If America was going to give a "haircut," they'd dilute the money supply instead of just taking 10% from banks.

So yes, uncle sam can steal the money in your mattress without having access.

Or the Fed could release a newDollar and only accept a certain amount of oldDollars. Russia (I think) has done that once or twice.

"the Fed could release a newDollar and only accept a certain amount of oldDollars"

2/3 of oldDollar cash is stored outside the US by people who mostly can't enter the USA without visas etc. And those will be pissed royally.

It would be not wise choice to piss off more people than your own population, however not never done by the USA.

Or, you know, when the thieves leave clear traces, but there's nothing you can do about it because the powers that be are profiting from the loot.

"We'll just take the money in your account, because [insert any political excuse, bonus if it contains the word crisis]."

Do you think it happens a lot that bank accounts get emptied without traces?

I'm pretty sure it happens a lot that petty theft goes unsolved.

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