> He worries that they enable illicit activity by making money transactions less transparent. Still, he sees the value in digital payments systems and supports electronic use of government-backed currencies like the dollar.

> “I’ve been a great advocate of moving to an electronic payments mechanism. There are a lot of efficiencies. I think we can actually have a better regulated economy if we had all the data in real time, knowing what people are spending,” he says.

This is almost written like a parody. Government backed electronic money is utterly dystopian to me. Imagine all the "nudges" that could easily be introduced. You're buying too much [bad thing], card declined. You're costing the health care system too much by being overweight so we'll restrict your food allowance. Your carbon emissions are over the limit this month, we'll have to deny your flight purchase. A gas station charges "too much" for gas, payment declined.