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[Eric Hughes]

   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