digital cash

This is my first post here, please be gentle! I'm no crypto specialist, so 
the public key part I refer to may be totally out of line, I hope not. I've 
been reading this list for a month or so and I'm drawing my conclusions 
about the key from that. 
 
Let's break anonymous digital cash down into two problems. 
1. Anonymous place to store funds. 
2. Ability to get funds out of  anonymous account to either any other 
   account or any individual/company.
 
1. You will need  a place that not only you trust, but that the people you 
are dealing with will trust. This place must be accessible physically as well 
as electronically. Physically so I can walk in and deposit money anonymously
(so there is no electronic trail), and also so that I can give money to 
people who have no computer. I want to be able to give something to someone 
and they will be able to take that to this place and get money for it. I 
won't get into why it has to be accessible electronically. I'll call this 
place a bank. 
 
The only way to get money out of the account would be with a PGP like 
signature. I set the private key when I open the account. The public keys 
would be designed to incorporate the amount of the e-check I'm writing. 
When you go to the  bank to cash in your key, the key is recorded so it 
can't be used again, and the bank gives the money to the key holder. The 
keys would have to have something built into them to make them unique so 
that you could write a key for the same amount more than once. 
 
2. So now I've got this anonymous source of funds, I want to buy something. 
If I'm buying it over the net, I could send an order for something via an 
anonymous account to the provider using PGP. It's important to protect the 
money key, because whoever has the key, can get the money. Now the service 
provider sends me my stuff via a reply to the anonymous e-mail. I get my 
stuff, they get their money and there is no way to determine who is who. 
The service provider can be known or unknown, doesn't matter. All that matters 
is that they get my order and my money key.  
 
Obviously, this only works if you are dealing in person or electronically. 
I can't send you a request for a box of rocks and not tell you where to send 
them. But I could use my pocket electronic check book to write a key for the 
amount of a purchase at a store. The cash register could read that key and 
confirm it's validity and amount and actually complete the transfer of funds 
immediately. 
 
I think banks would go for this because they get the float on our money, 
they don't have to pay interest, and they don't have to send monthly statements.
They are already in the business of moving money, so I don't believe there would
be any additional expenses to set this up other than the key readers.

Safe, as convenient as a check, and anonymous. Have I missed anything?

--
 Jim Callen			        Voice:    (617) 275-3427    
 Collaborative Biomedical Products	FAX:      (617) 275-3436    
 Becton Dickinson		        Internet: jim@cbpi.com      
 Two Oak Park
 Bedford, MA 01730

daily%cbpi.UUCP@dmc.com says:
> 1. You will need  a place that not only you trust, but that the people you 
> are dealing with will trust. This place must be accessible physically as well
> as electronically. Physically so I can walk in and deposit money anonymously
> (so there is no electronic trail),

You can deposit money electronically without leaving a trail, too.

I'm not going to say how -- consider it a "trade secret", but others
will doubtless come up with similar ideas to mine.

> and also so that I can give money to 
> people who have no computer.

You don't need to be near the bank for that either. Use an ATM machine.

> The only way to get money out of the account would be with a PGP like 
> signature. I set the private key when I open the account. The public keys 
> would be designed to incorporate the amount of the e-check I'm writing. 
> When you go to the  bank to cash in your key, the key is recorded so it 
> can't be used again, and the bank gives the money to the key holder.

Why not just sign an electronic bank draft? Why not use Chaumian
digicash? Seems far too complicated.

I would suggest that you probably ought to read up more on the subject
-- you have obvious enthusiasm for it, but others have already thought
of many of these issues in detail. Reading Chaum's paper and learning
a bit about commercial law (especially w.r.t. commercial paper) and
the "open literature" on anonymous electronic banking would be
valuable.

> I think banks would go for this because they get the float on our
> money, they don't have to pay interest, and they don't have to send
> monthly statements.

Of course, its illegal for them to do this in the U.S. -- banks can't
give out numbered or otherwise anonymous accounts. It could be done
overseas, of course...

Perry