Digital Dollars

During the fall of 1996, John M. Moran of the Hartford Courant interviewed me for Part II of their two-part series on "Digital Dollars":

Part I - "Future Currency to Take the Shape of Bits Instead of Bills", October 13, 1996

Excerpt: "Still, the rise of electronic money may foreshadow even greater changes in how people shop, what they buy and where they get it -- raising the prospect of cyber-shopping malls and virtual arcades on the Internet. And everyone, from bankers to retailers to governments and consumers, is struggling to understand what the impact will be."

Part II - "Consumers Look to Reap Benefits of Cash in Cyberspace", October 14, 1996

Excerpt: "Ironically, electronic money might also represent a new opportunity for human freedom: the opportunity to create and distribute your own financial currency, said Jon W. Matonis, director of financial services for VeriSign Inc. of Mountain View, Calif....That would allow corporations and even individual citizens to get out from under the regulated monetary supply that most nations now impose on their currency. Different kinds of private currencies would then compete across the globe for market share, Matonis said."