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0 pointseastbound3y ago0 comments

There are only 39.8 billion US banknotes in circulation, it can easily tracked in a Postgres database, banknote numbers when it exits the ATM, banknote numbers when they are redeemed by the baker, or by your drug dealer of choice, banknotes are only in circulation for one or two exchanges before coming back to a bank, it’s very possible that they are tracked to identify curious loops in circulation.

In fact, if they weren’t, that would be unprofessional from the FBI.

0 comments

andirk3y ago

Easily? Tracking a credit card transaction is probably by far the easiest way to track money. And cash being the most difficult. And crypto being both easy and difficult depending on how it's used.

kelnos3y ago

Sure, credit card tracking is much easier, but I wouldn't call the "most difficult" nature of cash to be all that difficult, certainly not for a state actor that heavily regulates its banks.

dgfitz3y ago

Please correct me if I’m missing something. You’re describing a map where the key is a note and the value is, a linked list of banks? I’m not clear what the point is that you’re trying to make.

viraptor3y ago

I believe what they're saying is - we have the capability to track every physical banknote as it leaves/enters the bank and attach it to the person who deposits/withdraws it.

There may be extra steps in between, but if you're tracking a transaction / relationship type which happens twice or more, you can expect that the person on the record is the person you're after or can point you at them.

But I don't know why they expect FBI to actually have it implemented. The system would have to be so widespread/common that we'd know if it existed. I mean, there's https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currency_bill_tracking but that's for hobbyists. Otherwise banks may check for duplicate numbers... but I can't find any mention of more widespread tracking.

freejazz3y ago

It also assumes that money doesn't change hands multiple times before going back into another bank.

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landemva3y ago

Definitely need higher denomination coins. For now, coins of 1 and .50 work well for coffee shops.

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