dr. norbert michel, you are now recognized for five minutes. >> chairman, members of the committee, thank you for the opportunity to testify today. my name is norbert michel, director of the center for data analysis at the heritage foundation. the views i express today are my own.they should not be construed as representing any official position of the heritage foundation. cryptocurrencies have rapidly expanded since the introduction of bitcoin in 2008, and their underlying technology, a distributed database that allows digital assets to be transferred without a third-party intermediary, holds the potential to transform the financial industry. this innovation should be fostered, not smothered. my remarks today will provide four specific points related to the use of crypto currency, cash and other alternative forms of money. first, electronic means of payment have become more widespread as technology has changed, but paper currency, cash, is still a widely used form of payment. beenemise of cash has widely and suddenly predicted since at least the 1970's, yet it remains the preferred metho

dr. norbert michelle who is the director for data analysis at the heritage foundation where he studies and writes about that. michelle was a tenure professor. teaching finance, economics and statistics. with the trade policy. with the international trade and economics. he is a former head of the china division. the numerous collective volumes as well. and on china and india. the senior fellow. welcome back to the committee providing thought and policy. previously he was president and ceo. they received the masters in philosophy. from princeton university. with the oral presentation of the testimony. it will remain part of the record. you are not recognized for five minutes. you can just push the button there to turn on your mic. the convenience of electronic transfers has led to a decline worldwide for the use of cash. where they were transferring commercial bank deposits. they had been adopted by over 60% of the population. they had fallen below 2% by value. they are introducing their own faster payment systems. at the same time paypal and then mount and other private mobile payment platf