There is a small point to be made here which I think is really a big point. The US government does not object to the use of financial instruments so long as they are backed by the US $ (or another accepted currency). No, this isn't so. They also object to barter schemes that are backed by dollars. The object to them not by making them illegal _per se_, but by making it illegal not to report all the transactions that occur inside them. You also need to be concerned about Federal regulations covering the import and export of money. I think that at $5,000 or $10,000 you have to report the transaction. This applies to cash and some cash-like instruments, not to "money". Originally it was just cash; it has been extended to other instruments, but not to all of them, insofar as I know. Eric