it shouldn't have any bearing on whether the TSA confiscates it, but it's a reasonable question to ask. I too wonder why it makes sense to transport $82k in cash just to open up a new bank account. if you just walk into the branch and say you want to open a new account with that much money, they'd likely pay the wire fee for you.

I think that the legally mandated utter lack of financial privacy in the US is basis enough for why the question is unreasonable.

Plenty of people love and use cash, myself included. We don't need a reason for our preferences, but there exist plenty of good ones if you unreasonably demand that one exist.

it's unreasonable for me to ask even as a private citizen? I like cash too and frequently use it. I'm really just curious here. under what set of beliefs would it make sense to transport $82k cash across the country just to open a bank account that would be subject to all the usual KYC?