New Smart Paper Could Put An End To Dark Money

NewMoney.govThe new $100 bill

Scientists have developed paper containing ultra-thin, undetectable Radio Frequency Identification Chips (RFID), and in doing so may have taken a huge step towards ending "dark money" cash transfers.

"The technique could be used to prevent fraud as well as provide a new meaning to the term 'paper trail,'" reports the BBC.

"Dark Money" has been described in political terms as money that's not traceable, can affect political contests or motivations, and most importantly the populace knows nothing about it.

Oftentimes dark money trades hands via digital bank transfers — big trouble is, those leave a trail. There's a more secure kind of dark money: hard cash.

Recently, Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai admitted that the CIA gave him "grocery bags of cash" to the tune of millions of dollars. He also said Iran had done the same thing, though Iran's cash transfers to Karzai came in the form of Euros.

The new technology (still patent-pending) uses a laser beam's energy to transfer the chips into notes, according to the BBC. Such a technological revolution could help staunch the global flow of illicit cash.

As Jeremy Hsu of the tech blog IEEE Spectrum put it, "A simple act of cash changing hands could become a lot less private."