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Where is My Digital Cash?

Posted by Cliff on from the credit-cards-are-digital-enough-for-me dept.

LinuxTek asks: "Using the IBM commercial as a starting point (the one with the guy from DS9 asking about flying cars), I ask you, where is my digital cash? I remember a couple of years ago all the hype about digital money and several companies that were supposed to make a revolution in micropayment and 'secure' online purchase (i.e. anonymous). I remember Digicash as being one of the most promising companies, and I even remember downloading their digital wallet test app. It seems they went out of business and sold their patents to eCash, but now I can't even acces the eCash site. Does anyone know if there are other projects like this (still alive), and/or Open Source alternatives? Digital money should be a reality by now."

3 of 100 comments (clear)

  1. e-gold by Wonko42 · · Score: 5, Informative

    e-gold is still going strong. Just like in Cryptonomicon, only without quite so many stupendous badasses.

  2. Wait 3 years by kurowski · · Score: 5, Informative

    Your digital cash will arrive in 2005, when an important David Chaum patent expires.

  3. Re:Oh really? by kurowski · · Score: 4, Informative
    Two: it's impossible. Impossible to do it and meet all of your criteria for anonymity and so on.

    see
    Chaum, D. Fiat, A. Naor, M., Untraceable electronic cash. (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, West Germany, p. 319-27, 1990)(Conference: Advances in Cryptology - CRYPTO '88. Proceedings, Santa Barbara, CA, USA, 21-25 Aug. 1988)

    (this is just the cardinal example- other people have come up with other ways of providing offline ,untraceable, anonymous electronic cash

    but you can't implement it till 2005:

    D. Chaum, "Cryptographic Identification, Financial Transaction, and Credential Device," US Pat #4,529,870, Jul. 16, 1985.