And suppose that I promised, on the net via a signed message, to trade MM coins for dolars. [...] I don't belive I would be running a bank: I would maintain no deposits for anyone other than myself. Nope. You're a bank in this case. A bank is someone who accepts demand deposits, that is, money they give to you which you give them back when they want it. It matters not how the value is stored. The large banks store their value in bank accounts at the Federal Reserve. I don't belive I would be issueing a currency: Correct. Digital money is not a new currency. Would the coins circulate? Only among people who had pre-existing financial trust in each other, and only if the bank fee for deposit/withdrawal were high enough to justify a secondary market in coin exchange. It is not particularly difficult to find books about the regulatory environment of the banking industry. I would heartily suggest to those who are interested that they hit the library. I also feel compelled to mention this--it's not online, and get over it. Eric