Eric Hughes says:
It didn't occur to me before, but you could also have 'nonbank notes'. If the issuer isn't a bank, does the regulation still apply?
If it doesn't the simple expedient of the Fed ruling that you are a bank would screw you up nicely. If all else fails, they will just pass a new law, so as to prevent the evil Child Pornographers, Terrorists, Drug Dealers and the rest from using this horrible new technology. I'm not sanguine about the possibilities of getting any of what we would like through regulatory and legislative hurdles. The regulators have taken ten years just to eliminate the restrictions on interstate banking, and they still haven't quite done the job yet (although hopefully the restrictions will go away by '96 or so.) They understood that stuff fairly well. They probably won't understand digital cash as well, although it will probably be even worse for us if they do. Perry