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

[Doug Moen]

> In the end, no matter what system we use, be it paper or digits, it will still be unfairly distributed.  

True, but this could still address an important social justice issue.
If you are homeless, there's a good chance that you can't get a bank account or a credit card.
You rely on cash, but it's increasingly hard to use cash to participate in the economy. It won't work for internet purchases, for one thing.
A digital cash card (that you can get without ID, or a bank account, or other credentials) would allow you to buy things or receive money in some cases where cash doesn't work.


On Fri, May 12, 2023, at 4:35 PM, CrankyOldBugger wrote:
> In the end, no matter what system we use, be it paper or digits, it will still be unfairly distributed.  
> 
> On Fri, May 12, 2023 at 4:33 PM Doug Moen <doug at moens.org> wrote:
>> > 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? ...
>> 
>> NM, the probable solution to my problem is to use physical hardware, just as the original MintChip was physical hardware. So you carry a card that is charged with a certain amount of cash, and you can exchange money using a local and anonymous process. Bitcoin can't be anonymous because the blockchain is public. But a hardware implementation can also prevent cash from being duplicated, without the cash balance in your wallet being public knowledge, so a blockchain isn't needed. If you can transfer cash to and from a MintChip at an ATM, then there is a loss of privacy at that interface, but it's no better or worse than cash. Two people with MintChips could exchange digital cash without loss of privacy. using a card to card crypto protocol.
>> 
>> This system could be equivalent to physical cash from a privacy and freedom perspective, without some of the downsides of Bitcoin. Like, it could support truly anonymous transactions, and it could be pegged to the Canadian dollar, so you don't have the insecurity of a wildly volatile currency.
>> 
>> MintChip also supported online transactions. That could still be anonymous if there is a secure protocol for exchanging cash between MintChips that just happens to run over the internet in this case. You would need a MintChip physically plugged into a server for this to work for purchasing from an E-store.
>> 
>> The MintChip web site says that it worked just as I was describing. I remember blog posts and stories revealing that it was all a false front government scam surveillance play, but maybe that was propaganda and I fell for it. Dunno.
>> 
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