Re: TrustBucks

[tcmay@got.net (Timothy C. May)]

At 6:11 AM 8/2/96, TrustBuckFella wrote:
>An alternative model of electronic money.
>
>Every model of electronic money I know of except one retains some degree
>of centralization. There is always a central "mint", usually a bank. If
>you can't find a bank that acts the way you want, you're SOL. And the
>only thing that enforces non-abuse (inflation, etc) by the bank is the
>equivalence of electronic money to some form of "real" money. The sole
>exception is Digicash. Unfortunately, Digicash has no restraint on
                        ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>infinite spending-into-debt.
 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You want to elaborate on this contention?

If Alice transfers Digicash-type money to Bob, this is because Alice either
bought the DC-money someplace, or already had it, or otherwise arranged
with a bank to make the transaction. Maybe the bank "loaned" her money she
didn't already have, but this is a completely separable issue from the form
of DC-money.

So what is this "restraint on infinite spending-into-debt"? Gullible
lenders can always lend her vast amounts of money which she may never
repay, but this is fully separable from what transfer protocol she uses to
"spend" this loaned money.

If, on the other hand, your point is something about inflation, this is
also separable. Digicash and other forms of electronic money are generally
not currencies per se, but are a kind of transfer order, more like a check.
As such, not directly implicated in the issue of inflation.

>I'm not going to try to develop the cryptographic protocols for
>TrustBucks. I haven't got the requisite paranoia and pickiness
>(compliments both) for that. TrustBucks also has nothing in the way of
>anonymity and restraint on double-spending right now. If you can see how
>it could be anonymous or restrain double-spending and still work, please
>feel free to add.

No protocols. No anonymity. No protection against double-spending.

Looks promising. Keep us informed.

--Tim May


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Timothy C. May              | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,
tcmay@got.net  408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
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