Internet Currency IC

[amado]

I just had that thought today..

What do you think if there was a new currency called Internet Currency, one that could be bought from any currency exchanger or bank, its exchange rate would raise, fall and change just like any other, but this time it is according to web market demand, reflecting the web economy , size and volume as well as nature of web shopping and internet based businesses.

Online shoppers would simply stop using credit cards and all other stuff that required a lot of paper work and all these bank rules and nonsense, all they have to do is to just exchange their local currency with whatever amount of the Internet Currency and go online fill their shopping carts, check out and pay using the serial numbers on their internet currency notes. Once entered the serial number on the internet currency note, it is validated against a web service that belongs to the world bank or whatever bank that will issue these notes and it will be blocked from further usage, funds would then be transfered to the seller's bank account. Purchasers you no more need bank accounts, crediting rules or messy bills, sellers no need to worry about fraud, complicated rules and taxes to offer online purchasing mechanisms. The internet currency serial numbers never repeat, they don't as well enter the database and are available for validation against the world bank web service until the moment they are legally purchased from an authorized selling or cashing out point, upon exchange at some bank or exchangeer or withdrawal from an atm machine the notes are scanned and their numbers are submitted as sold. This protects the buyer from abuse, and the currency would never have to be resold by resellers or whatever black market, it will always be transparent, every transaction done reflects its price and contributes to the web economy. Customer awareness and guidelines that prevents illegal purchase of these notes would protect the note, the buyer and the seller from fraud, the seller wouldn't have to worry about it, no transaction would happen without a matching serial number in the system that hasn't been blocked before. And who knows, maybe salaries, markets in the street and everyone starts selling and using that currency instead of their local one, at least it is a currency that has a true price reflecting real demand, not geared by political or local government plans. Global banks to print that note might exist in several countries and later on in all countries wiping out the concept of a local currency altogether. It would be the most dynamic currency that ever existed in the history of man kind. Easiest in usage, safest, transferable as well as exchangeable, people would be able to deposit it in bank accounts, purchase all kinds of stuff with it as well as having it as a salary. The note would have strong serial numbers, strong bank end web services for validation and verification as well as water marks and other means to ensure it is a legitemate note. Web Economy would replace all old concepts and introduce a whole new world with limiteless possibilities, businesses and service providers would be encouraged to go web, go global and double the size and volume of its customers. Customs, taxes and local rules would just fade away, global economic free rules would come in. I believe this is the next step human kind would have to take sooner or later. Unlike the euro thing, this is the first currency that is unrelated to a specific kind, place or color.

I haven't thought yet how the bank note would look like, if you have some design post it :)

[Soviet]

You can get online credit cards.. where you spend your money to charge some login name... then you can spend that anywhere on the internet.

[phend-one]

I don't think that would catch on. Not only do you have to watch your own local currency against other currencies, you'd have to worry about not getting ripped off by people trading the currency. As your currencies fluctuate, you'll be able to buy more/less of an item. Versus other countries, they may have better exchange rates than you, and you are paying more comparitively.

If the users (people/countries) don't want to do this there's no point. I don't know if government would want something like this to happen it means more attention away from things like improving health care, welfare etc. Eliminating taxes, customs would probably mean other ways to pay more to the government. We already pay enough to the governments already. No need for an excuse for them to make us pay more.

Also thought about who's going to pay to implement this type of system? Something of this magnitude isn't cheap. I think it's quite costly. Plus, there would be no real point to this, if not all the countries were to adopt this system. You'd have people pay with web money, and people paying in their own money. May as well not have the hassle of using web money and just do it the regular way.

You have some good points. I feel in a perfect or utopian society, this could work, but not in the current state of the world.

[amado]

it is just a backdoor to end up with a global currency, if we start calling for a global currency it will directly fail but if it is called as an easier means for internet payments it might get boosted.

In fact its idea is a mix of normal money + scratch cards because the moment u use a money note it is disposable. So it can be started even as scratch cards and then end up a currency..

Global currency is not a new concept, it is just a very famous currency that the whole world uses and knows..now it is the american dollar so it is just a kind of replacement but not a new concept

The fact that money is a replacement for gold or how money's value is attached to gold would also be broken this way, making money's real value the demand for it just like stocks..

If Countries realize how this kind of economy gives them an un known before kind of understanding of market, they would directly adopt it, all payments of whatever kind small or large are done through validation and verification, imagine how trends and general and specific reports of where the market is going and what people really want would reflect on industries and policies.

The current economies and currencies are untrackable, having a very diverse means of payments and only standarized transactions at the top gives a poor kind of insight on what's really happening, plus it gives very high anonymity for buyers and purchasers unlike credit cards and bank transfers and other stuff.

Taxes are still in effect and no one can escape it, as long as you still use some bank to collect ur money transfer or salary or whatever from, the moment you have that transfer or you do some withdrawal whatever local tax will be in effect.

As the internet penetrated old concepts and made everything possible to go global in seconds, this might have a big chance..it can be tweaked in some ways but it is going to be done one way or another, just like global health insurance, universal driving license, internation student card, cellular roaming..etc