From: Hal <hfinney@shell.portal.com>
Date: Thu, 5 May 94 22:18:40 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Marked_Money
Message-ID: <199405060519.WAA16083@jobe.shell.portal.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


From: Matthew J Ghio <mg5n+@andrew.cmu.edu>
> >         Is there a way of marking digital coins, so the depositor
> > can be identified?
> 
> Only if the depositor marks them as such.  The depositor generates the
> coin, and gives it to the bank to sign it.  The bank signs it in
> exchange for another valid signed token.  The bank can't alter it in any
> way, the bank can only sign it.

It's not the depositor who generates the coin, it's the withdrawer.
Generally, he will be able to, in effect, "mark" the coin so that
when it is deposited at the bank (by whomever he paid it to) the
bank will be able to recognize that cash (because the withdrawer told
the bank what the numbers were).

However, with digital cash, it may be possible for the depositor to be
anonymous and deposit the cash without being identified, so that even
though the cash is recognized it does not necessarily reveal the depositor.

Hal