GNU Taler is a
free software
Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...
-based
microtransaction
Microtransactions, often abbreviated as mtx, are a business model where users can purchase virtual goods with micropayments. Microtransactions are often used in free-to-play games to provide a revenue source for the developers. While microtransact ...
and
electronic payment
An e-commerce payment system (or an electronic payment system) facilitates the acceptance of electronic payment for offline transfer, also known as a subcomponent of electronic data interchange (EDI), e-commerce payment systems have become incre ...
system. Unlike most other decentralized payment systems, GNU Taler does not use a
blockchain
A blockchain is a type of distributed ledger technology (DLT) that consists of growing lists of records, called ''blocks'', that are securely linked together using cryptography. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of the previous block, a ...
.
A
blind signature
In cryptography a blind signature, as introduced by David Chaum, is a form of digital signature in which the content of a message is disguised ( blinded) before it is signed. The resulting blind signature can be publicly verified against the origin ...
is used to protect the privacy of users as it prevents the exchange from knowing which coin it signed for which customer.
The project is led by Florian Dold and Christian Grothoff of Taler Systems SA. Taler is short for the "Taxable Anonymous Libre Economic Reserves" and alludes to the
Taler coins in Germany during the
Early Modern period. It has vocal support from
GNU Project
The GNU Project () is a free software, mass collaboration project announced by Richard Stallman on September 27, 1983. Its goal is to give computer users freedom and control in their use of their computers and computing devices by collaborati ...
founder
Richard Stallman
Richard Matthew Stallman (; born March 16, 1953), also known by his initials, rms, is an American free software movement activist and programmer. He campaigns for software to be distributed in such a manner that its users have the freedom to ...
. Stallman has described the program as "designed to be anonymous for the payer, but payees are always identified." In a paper published in ''Security, Privacy, and Applied Cryptography Engineering'', GNU Taler is described as meeting ethical considerations – the paying customer is anonymous while the merchant is identified and taxable. An implementation is provided by Taler Systems SA.
See also
*
DigiCash
*
Cryptocurrency
A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it. It i ...
*
Open source
Open source is source code that is made freely available for possible modification and redistribution. Products include permission to use the source code, design documents, or content of the product. The open-source model is a decentralized sof ...
References
External links
*
{{Cryptocurrencies, state=collapsed
GNU Project software
Software using the GPL license
Payment systems
Online payments