At 16:40 5/11/96, Jüri Kaljundi wrote:

This is one question why the central bank in Estonia (I am not sure about other countries) does not allow issuing e-cash here in Estonia. While the banks issue e-cash to people, they get some real cash from people. This leads to actually doubleing the money in circulation, each monetary unit, either dollar or kroon, can at the same time be used by owner of e-cash and at the same time by the bank. The central banks are afraid that when the amount of e-cash in circulation gets big, this could lead to devalvation of money, especially a small country like Estonia is afraid of such development.

That's simply silly. The same argument would hold true for travelers checks. Are Estonian banks allowed to issue them? I thought so. Disclaimer: My opinions are my own, not those of my employer. -- Lucky Green <mailto:shamrock@netcom.com> PGP encrypted mail preferred.