We do things according to what our goals is. Tinkering around technically just for the sake of it provides no value on its own.

In this case, someone losing their voting ability because of the system on a regular basis is not acceptable. That's the obvious why not. We want to make a system to count the people's votes. If it bars a voter from casting their vote, it's a failure.

The real world wants assurances. That's why every country has central banks, notaries, central depositories, etc.

> It's a trade-off. You put the responsibility on the user to keep their keys.

Just like for driving or flying or almost any important occupation, we don't only "put responsibility on the user". We have laws against abuse.

We also allow things like bearer shares and gold coins which simply provide value to whoever has them.

You’ll note that most people purchase things with credit cards and checks. Trying to buy your daily latte with a gold coin will get you some very strange looks and a manager trying to figure out what to do.

Things like that are more closely associated with heist movies (or their more mundane analogue, "used notes", with run-of-the-mill crime) than legitimate commerce.

After the 1982 curtailments, bearer instruments practically don’t exist in the US.

As for gold, gold is a commodity, and one that has industrial utility. You can use it for things, so of course, it’s not particularly controlled.