As with any other technology, RAQ can be used for both good and evil. However, we are firm believers that the net good for RAQ far outweighs the bad. We believe money should be a public utility. In an increasingly digital age that's moving away from digital cash, money has increasingly been surveilled and used as a tool of control of oppressive governments whereby they can choose what you can spend on or even cut you off from your savings.
Privacy is also an essential element if we believe in cryptocurrency being used as a medium of transfer. Without privacy, businesses would be revealing who their suppliers are, how much they're paying their employees or how much they're receiving. Even paying for a cup of coffee with a currency that has a transparent public ledger can potentially reveal your holdings or addresses that are connected to you. We expect privacy in our day to day financial transactions and no one wants our bank statements leaked out to the world to see without our permission. Privacy is not about hiding, it's about retaining the ability to give consent to our data.
Recent reports and studies have also shown that while privacy cryptocurrencies often make the headlines for use on the darknet or perceived illicit behaviour, these form a very small proportion of overall transactions. Privacy preserving cryptocurrencies also aren't necessarily at odds with existing KYC/AML practices.
Privacy is an essential element missing in cryptocurrencies today and RAQ pushes the frontiers of privacy technology enabled by cryptography while retaining options for any user to disclose their details should they wish.