From: hughes@ah.com (Eric Hughes)
Date: Tue, 17 May 94 10:07:14 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Makeing MagicMoney worth something.
In-Reply-To: <199405170727.AAA28724@jobe.shell.portal.com>
Message-ID: <9405171709.AA04301@ah.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


   And suppose that I promised, on the net via a signed
   message, to trade MM coins for dolars.  [...]

     I don't belive I would be running a bank: I would maintain no
   deposits for anyone other than myself.  

Nope.  You're a bank in this case.  A bank is someone who accepts
demand deposits, that is, money they give to you which you give them
back when they want it.  It matters not how the value is stored.  The
large banks store their value in bank accounts at the Federal Reserve.

     I don't belive I would be issueing a currency: 

Correct.  Digital money is not a new currency.

   Would the coins circulate?

Only among people who had pre-existing financial trust in each other,
and only if the bank fee for deposit/withdrawal were high enough to
justify a secondary market in coin exchange.

It is not particularly difficult to find books about the regulatory
environment of the banking industry.  I would heartily suggest to
those who are interested that they hit the library.  I also feel
compelled to mention this--it's not online, and get over it.

Eric