On 7/1/07, Daniel C. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I just finished reading Cryptonomicon for the third or fourth time, and it's got me wondering (again) about how digital currency would be possible. He talks a lot about how "strong crypto" can enable you to have digital currency that is unforgeable, but I've thought and thought about it and I just don't see how it's possible to issue a digital, transferable document that you couldn't just make a copy of, thereby doubling the amount of this currency that you own. Is digital currency really possible, or is it purely a product of Neal Stephenson's imagination?
<cyncism/>Currency is just copied now, but it is by the same issuer, in the form of additional currency being printed by the Federal Reserve. One could make the argument that the fed controls how much currency is printed, but since the fed stopped reporting how much US currencncy is printed(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Money_supply#United_States) in 2006, there doesn't seem to be a check & balance in place. -- Lars /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
