[kwlug-disc] Bank of Canada launching public consultations on a digital dollar

[Alex K]

There is a good discussion on cryptocurrency backed by gold (around
1:10:00, but the entire video is quite interesting too):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bbi-_nn4zaw&t=3929s



On Fri, May 12, 2023 at 1:48 PM Doug Moen <doug at moens.org> wrote:

> They tried to launch a digital currency in 2012, called MintChip.
>
> The original marketing material said "cost-effectively addresses the
> very-low-value transaction markets, protects privacy, is available to
> everyone and emulates the characteristics of cash" and "works off-line,
> enables person-to-person payments". The National Post reported "The system
> has no centralized database. “They’re calling it anonymous … their
> intention is that it’s no more associated with who you are than
> [traditional] currency,” said Jacqueline Chilton with Glenbrook Partners, a
> California-based payment consultant."
>
>
> https://web.archive.org/web/20130120092850/http://developer.mintchipchallenge.com/devguide/index.php
> https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/mintchip-royal-canadian-mint
>
> The initiative fizzled once it became clear that this was actually a
> surveillance system in disguise.
>
> I would be thrilled if Canada were to create a truly anonymous and peer to
> peer digital cash, with eg the privacy properties of the failed DigiCash
> initiative from 1989. This would make me proud to be a Canadian. I doubt
> that the law enforcement / authoritarian faction of the government would be
> happy about this, but their involvement could also doom the project
> (again). When Mintchip was initiated (and failed), it was under the Harper
> conservatives. I could hope for a different outcome under the Liberals (who
> to their credit legalized cannabis) -- we'll see.
>
> I'm unclear on how you implement truly anonymous digital cash that doesn't
> undergo Bitcoin style inflation. Is it possible to have true anonymity and
> still peg the value to the Canadian dollar? Canadian cash comprises
> unforgeable physical objects that are minted and withdrawn by the Canadian
> mint, and it is exchanged anonymously. Controlling the amount of cash in
> circulation is probably important in setting the value. Unforgeable digital
> tokens that are supplied by the mint and that can be anonymous exchanged
> between individuals ought to be possible. Any crypto experts want to
> comment on whether what I want is feasible?
>
> One of my concerns about a Canadian anonymous digital cash is that the
> people who control the conversation about this will demonize it in exactly
> the way that Bitcoin has been successfully demonized. It's increasingly
> difficult nowadays to find people in the general tech community who endorse
> the idea of cryptocurrency, because we all been brainwashed by news stories
> in the tech media that equates crypto currency with criminality and fraud
> and con artists. I've certainly been affected by these news stories in the
> way I think about cryptocurrency. So now I have these opinions about it
> that didn't originate in my brain and do not reflect my personal values.
>
> Doug.
>
> On Fri, May 12, 2023, at 10:58 AM, Chris Frey wrote:
> >
> https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2023/05/bank-canada-launches-public-consultations-digital-dollar/
> >
> > Consultation runs from May 8 to June 19, which may be of interest
> > to some here.
> >
> > - Chris
> >
> >
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