Could it be possible that the "US government", aka The Fed (notice I put the word government in quotes to denote sarcasm), would create its own digital currency in many ways like Bitcoin with the exception that instead of decentralized miners controlling the block chain, it was controlled centrally by "the government". They could charge a fee for all transactions, aka a tax, and they would own and distribute all newly mined coins into existence. They would have a paper trail of every digital coin in existence and where it went. Would the people accept it? Of course they wouldn't have a choice, though, would they?

Does this give them any kind of advantage? Sort of a "if you can't beat them join them, and then beat them at their own game" kind of a strategy? Would this eliminate the need for local banks and give them ultimate control of the currency? Is there any possibility that they could try to implement something like this over the current system they have created?

There would always be a need for lenders so banks wouldn't go away. But banking, in the traditional sense of storing your money for you, would have to change. The biggest concern would be defaults of those loans but the central bank, with its ability to create more of the digital currency, would be there to save the day.

Then again, how different is this from the current model anyway?

Discuss....