Question: If you have to burn the superbill to find out it's real, wouldn't it technically still be considered a real bill? If this is the case, why hold a casino front to launder the money when the Triads could just print an unlimited supply if they just wanted to make money?
BaconIsMyBFF
16th May 2017
Answer: Burning was not the only way to tell if a superbill was real, it was just the quickest way to demonstrate these particular bills were counterfeit. There were no doubt several different ways a trained eye could tell the bills were fake. The nature of counterfeiting means criminals must constantly update their methods as new security measures are developed, hence the casino front. The bills must be put into circulation as quickly as possible in an attempt to prevent exactly what happens in the film: the entire organization is brought down as the bills were traceable back to one person.
BaconIsMyBFF