The Electronic Future of Cash

American University Law Review published a special edition on "The Electronic Future of Cash" in April 1997 (Volume 46, Number 4), which included a discussion on the surrounding regulatory and legal issues. Also included in the edition was an article from National Security Agency's Cryptology Division, "How to Make a Mint: The Cryptography of Anonymous Electronic Cash".


The Electronic Future of Cash
Table of Contents

EDITOR'S NOTE

Piracy, Privacy, and Privatization: Fictional and Legal Approaches to the Electronic Future of Cash
Walter A. Effross

SURVEY

1996: Survey of the Year's Developments in Electronic Cash Law and the Laws Affecting Electronic Banking in the United States
Richard L. Field

ARTICLES

Stored Value Cards and the Consumer: The Need for Regulation
Mark E. Budnitz

Why Regulate Cybermoney?
David G. Oedel

How Best to Guide the Evolution of Electronic Currency Law
Brian W. Smith
Ramsey J. Wilson

ESSAYS

How to Make a Mint: The Cryptography of Anonymous Electronic Cash
Laurie Law
Susan Sabett
Jerry Solinas

How to Regulate Electronic Cash: An Overview of Regulatory Issues and Strategies
Simon L. Lelieveldt

Electronic Stored Value Payment Systems, Market Position, and Regulatory Issues
Gary W. Lorenz

NOTES

United States v. Ursery: Drug Offenders Forfeit Their Fifth Amendment Rights
Sean M. Dunn

Montana v. Egelhoff: Voluntary Intoxication, Morality, and the Constitution
Robert J. McManus

COMMENT

The Helms-Burton Act: The Effect of International Law on Domestic Implementation
W. Fletcher Fairey

IEEE Spectrum Special Issue: Electronic Money

IEEE Spectrum Volume 34, Issue 2
Special Issue: Electronic Money
February 1997

Table of Contents

Electronic money: toward a virtual wallet
Tekla S. Perry
Pages: 18 - 19

The future of electronic money: a regulator's perspective
Edward W. Kelley, Jr.
Pages: 21 - 22

Credits and debits on the Internet
Marvin A. Sirbu
Pages: 23 - 29

“Minting” electronic cash
David Chaum, Stefan Brands
Pages: 30 - 34

Traceable e-cash
Peter S. Gemmell
Pages: 35 - 37

Crime and prevention: a Treasury viewpoint
Stanley E. Morris
Pages: 38 - 39

Locking the e-safe
Robert W. Baldwin, C. Victor Chang
Pages: 40 - 46

In your pocket: smartcards
Carol Hovenga Fancher
Pages: 47 - 53

Banking in cyberspace: an investment in itself
Michael C. McChesney
Pages: 54 - 59

Technology takes to securities trading
Steven M. H. Wallman
Pages: 60 - 65

Nasdaq's technology floor: its president takes stock
Alfred R. Berkeley, III
Pages: 66 - 67

The economics of e-cash
Mike ter Maat
Pages: 68 - 73

Money and the Internet: a strange new relationship
Howard Anderson
Pages: 74 - 76

Wildcat Banking, Banking Panics, and Free Banking in the United States

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Economic Review (December 1996) published "Wildcat Banking, Banking Panics, and Free Banking in the United States" by Gerald P. Dwyer, Jr. He writes:

"Will electronic money resemble the banknotes circulated in the U.S. free banking period? Walter Wriston, a former Chairman of Citicorp, and others have suggested that money used for transactions on the Internet may resemble nineteenth-century banknotes more than it will today’s money."

"Free banking disappeared when it was taxed out of existence by the federal government in 1865. This action was not due to apparent dissatisfaction voiced by citizens of free banking states. In fact, the national banking law adopted during the Civil War included many provisions similar to the free banking laws."

International Chamber of Commerce Presentation by Jon Matonis

In November 1996, I was invited to speak in Paris at the Commission on Financial Services Meeting for the International Chamber of Commerce. My subject matter was the still-evolving concept of digital authentication for internet payments, and the introductory guest presentation was given by Andrew Crockett, General Manager of the Bank for International Settlements (B.I.S.).

My Campaign for California State Senate

[Note: Some linked pages may require https://archive.org/web/ ]

From San Mateo Libertarian, Volume VI, Number 11, November/December 1996:

"Jon Matonis was our most successful local candidate. Maybe it was because his was the only three-way race. Maybe because he was the only coast-side candidate. But maybe because he had the best-looking web site! Jon is an encryption software manager. The following is taken from his campaign web page."

We, as Californians, have two critical choices to make:

• Do we pay for the government and state-managed monopolies to provide services or do we privatize and permit the market to provide more efficient and more cost-effective solutions?
• Do we expand state power and spending or do we return the tax money to all Californians in the form of a check from Sacramento?

California is a world leader. This state can become the single, shining example of what the free, human spirit is capable of achieving. I aim to accomplish this with four basic, innovative planks of my campaign that impact every day of every Californian's life.

Taxation and Currency

Five out of 50 states in our great Union currently function ideally without a state income tax. My goal is for the state of California to become the sixth state. Additionally, I will propose legislation that permits banks and other organizations (even individuals) in California to issue and circulate negotiable currency state-wide which competes freely with the monopoly Federal Reserve notes.

Education

The condition of public education in California is abysmal and continues to deteriorate. I support the initiatives for private school choice and expanded home schooling and an end to government or tax-funded pre-school programs.

Environment

Most of my district falls in an area of supreme beauty and natural resources. I support the right of private citizens and organizations to rightfully acquire natural resources for the purpose of conservation such as the Quarry Park Project in El Granada demonstrates. However, the desire to conserve natural resources is not a valid excuse for the violation of individual rights, and I therefore oppose such violations.

Immigration

It is dehumanizing, and personally embarrassing to me as a Californian, for the INS and border patrol to round-up, in dragnet-like fashion, productive immigrants at their workplaces and homes. I strongly oppose all measures that punish employers who hire undocumented workers. Such measures repress free enterprise, harass workers, and systematically discourage employers from hiring Hispanics.

For further reading: 

"California Senate Results", Los Angeles Times, November 5, 1996

"CA State Senate 11", Our Campaigns, November 5, 1996

"Shannon, Sher fight for 11th Senate District", Half Moon Bay Review, March 13, 1996

Libertarian Party of Santa Clara County, LPedia

11,290 (3.69%) votes for Jon Matonis

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."

Other Looming Issues Related to Cryptography Policy

The National Academies Press published Cryptography's Role in Securing the Information Society (1996) by Kenneth W. Dam and Herbert S. Lin, Editors, for Committee to Study National Cryptography Policy, National Research Council.

This book presents a comprehensive examination of cryptography and its evolution from a national security tool to a key component of the global information super-highway. It addresses the urgent need for a strong national policy on cryptography that promotes and encourages its widespread use to protect the information interests of individuals, businesses, and the nation as a whole, while respecting legitimate national needs of law enforcement and intelligence for national security and foreign policy purposes.

In Appendix L, Other Looming Issues Related to Cryptography Policy, a thoughtful and prescient analysis of true digital cash is presented. With digital currency regulation and enforcement on the upswing today, the issues covered remain shockingly relevant:

Appendix L

Other Looming Issues Related to Cryptography Policy, p. 477

L.1 Digital Cash, 477
L.1.1 Anonymity and Criminal Activity, 480
L.1.2 Public Trust, 480
L.1.3 Taxation, 482
L.1.4 Cross-Border Movements of Funds, 482
L.2 Cryptography for Protecting Intellectual Property, 482