DigiCash Inc. was an

electronic money Digital currency (digital money, electronic money or electronic currency) is any currency, money, or money-like asset that is primarily managed, stored or exchanged on digital computer systems, especially over the internet. Types of digital cu ...

corporation founded by

David Chaum David Lee Chaum (born 1955) is an American computer scientist, cryptographer, and inventor. He is known as a pioneer in cryptography and privacy-preserving technologies, and widely recognized as the inventor of digital cash. His 1982 dissertatio ...

in 1989. DigiCash transactions were unique in that they were anonymous due to a number of

cryptographic Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adve ...

protocols developed by its founder. DigiCash declared bankruptcy in 1998 and subsequently sold its assets to eCash Technologies, another digital currency company, which was acquired by

InfoSpace Infospace, Inc. was an American company that offered private label search engine, online directory, and provider of metadata feeds. The company's flagship metasearch site was Dogpile and its other notable consumer brands were WebCrawler and MetaC ...

on Feb. 19, 2002.

History

David Chaum is associated with the invention of Blind Signature Technology. In 1982, while studying at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, Chaum wrote a paper describing the technological advancements to public and private key technology, in order to create this Blind Signature Technology. Chaum's Blind Signature Technology was designed to ensure the complete privacy of users who conduct online transactions. Chaum was concerned with the public nature and open access to online payments and personal information. He then proposed to construct a system of cryptographic protocols, in which a bank or the government would be unable to trace personal payments conducted online. This technology became fully implemented in 1990, through Chaum's company, DigiCash.

Technology

DigiCash was a form of early electronic payment, which required user software to withdraw notes from a bank and designate specific encrypted keys before it can be sent to a recipient. This advancement of public and private key cryptography allows electronic payments to become untraceable by the issuing bank, the government, or a third party. This system of Blind Signatures through DigiCash software improved security for its users through the issuance of secured keys, which prevented third parties from accessing personal information through online transactions. The Mark Twain Bank, later acquired by Mercantile bank, located in

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

was the only U.S. bank that supported DigiCash systems.

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Sto ...

, based in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, was the second backing bank of DigiCash systems.

Bankruptcy

DigiCash was unable to grow the company successfully through the expansion of its user base. Chaum stated in an interview in 1999 that the DigiCash project, and its technology system, entered the market before e-commerce was fully integrated within the Internet. In 1998, DigiCash filed a

Chapter 11 Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code (Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, wheth ...

bankruptcy and in 2002 the company was sold for assets. A more modern implementation of the DigiCash approach is provided by Taler Systems SA as Free Software with the "

GNU Taler GNU Taler is a free software-based microtransaction and electronic payment system. Unlike most other decentralized payment systems, GNU Taler does not use a blockchain. A blind signature is used to protect the privacy of users as it prevents the e ...

" protocol.

References

{{Reflist Payment systems Online payments

History

Technology

Bankruptcy

See also

References