Bitcoin, the cool new internet currency that has the federal government just a little scared. See, normally governments have exclusive power to coin money. Not any more.
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From Forbes:
The public reason for the attention of government officials and regulators to this development is the potential for malevolent use of Bitcoin, and other such currencies, by criminals and even terrorists, to transfer funds for illegal activities and worse, and for money laundering. The Senate Homeland Security letter states regarding these currencies, “Their anonymous and decentralized nature has also attracted criminals who value few things more than being allowed to operate in the shadows.”
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But criminals are not criminals until they are convicted of something, and hiding the source of your money is not against the law, except for what you are legally required to disclose on your tax return. The source of your money is not a public matter, but a feature of your personal privacy, absent a specific legal disclosure requirement. The Justice Department has no business even asking you about the source of your money until it has sufficient probable cause to bring you in for questioning, and/or to file for a warrant for your personal financial records.
In other words, the Feds are afraid of internet currencies like Bitcoin because it exposes them and the inflation they’re creating by printing trillions of dollars in so-called stimulus.