The Monetary Future

Jon Matonis is an e-money researcher and crypto economist focused on expanding the circulation of nonpolitical digital currencies.

His career has included senior posts at Sumitomo Bank, Visa, VeriSign, and Hushmail. Currently, he serves on the board of the Bitcoin Foundation.

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Money Laundering Is Financial Thoughtcrime
May 7, 2013 It's difficult to identify the victims of money laundering, other than the bank shareholders that must expend millions of...

The Elephant in the Payments Room
April 29, 2013 A payments startup that ignores Bitcoin in its strategic plan is like a publisher ignoring the Web in 1999.

Fincen's New Regulations Are Choking Bitcoin Entrepreneurs
April 25, 2013 More than a decade ago, regulators nearly suffocated PayPal. Now it looks like they're trying to squelch another disruptive,...

Bitcoin Pros to Talk Merchant Acquisition, Banking Opportunities
April 23, 2013 With bitcoin in the media spotlight, everyone seems to have an opinion on the price. Few recognize the profound implications...

Bitcoin and the Rebirth of Financial Safe Havens
April 11, 2013 The exchange rate may be volatile now, but as the market eventually finds equilibrium and stabilizes, bitcoin will become an...

FATCA Is Far from a Done Deal
April 1, 2013 Calls for reciprocity and a lack of participation from Asian-Pacific countries present significant challenges for the...

Fincen Spying Plan Invites Privacy Workarounds
March 21, 2013 Money was never meant to be a method of supranational identity tracking. Its use in that way could signal law enforcement...

How Cryptocurrencies Could Upend Banks' Monetary Role
March 15, 2013 Digital money like Bitcoin opens up possibilities for banking without central planners or a lender of last resort, where...

Tabletop Bitcoin ATM Is Huge for Payment Privacy
February 27, 2013 Now, with an ATM that directly converts paper cash to bitcoin anonymously, the interaction is with a machine rather than...

Expect Blowback if KYC Rules Are Expanded
February 26, 2013 If U.S. know-your-customer rules required banks to identify and scrutinize foreign recipients in addition to the senders of...