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You will probably never see Amazon or Overstock.com accepting eCache as a method of payment, however, more and more old school digital currency users are spending DBCs (digital bearer certificates). With the e-gold community still rocking in the wake of recent indictments, creative minds are now making moves towards more serious privacy.
Do you want to learn more about eCache? Then get ready to be confused….
Although it sounds simple enough, this is not your ‘fathers’ digital money.
What is eCache? Plain and simple its anonymous digital cash. Just like the fancy green & black paper you have in your wallet, which offers no attached receipt stating where it came from, eCache is 100% anonymous. The only difference from your paper money is you can access and transfer eCache online anywhere in the world. It is entirely 100% digital and the ’serial numbers’ of the ‘cache’ [money] change as it moves.
Their their web site states.
“eCache is a payment system based on Digital Bearer Certificates. It is truly anonymous because we have no accounts, no know-your-customer, no public frontend or anything else that could identify you.”
eCache works on the IRC system. Internet Relay Chat (IRC) So don’t be alarmed when you arrive at a URL like this one, https://ffij33ewbnoeqnup.onion.meshmx.com/index.php?session= that is a page from the actual eCache web. So don’t get excited when you find just a place holder page at http://www.ecache.com/
Each DBC (Digital Bearer Certificate) is unique and it works just like a digital banknote. When you receive a DBC, you first go to the eCache Interface to ‘reissue’ and/or ‘verify’ it. When you ‘verify’ you find its value and authenticity. When your reissue one, the original DBC you received is destroyed and a new one is issued for you. If you ever get the ID already spent error, you know that someone already reissued the certificate and it will never again hold value.
Just like trading in some of your small bills for the Benjamins, you can also ‘combine’ your DBCs. Once again visit the eCache Interface and you will be able to enter up to five DBCs of the same currency - receive a one new certificate and automatically destroy the old ones. Also, just like breaking a big bill, you may also ’split’ a large DBC into smaller ones using the same method as above, pressing the ’split’ button and reversing your action.
eCache has two different types of currency: COW and GG. COW is the play money and is just used for testing, it has no value and they will give you some COW to try out their system.
The GG currency is where real value is held. Each GG is worth one gram of fine gold. The actual gold behind GGs is held in a safe deposit box at an unknown location. eCache is not transparent about where the gold backing is kept or who audits the value. This fact may be difficult to understand for some new users (myself included). Eventually, they plan to include an audit process of their assets on hand to satisfy users feeling security. In the mean time, Raven Escrow holds a deposit of around 20 gold grams which is maintained as a safety net for users in the possible event of fraud.
So while eCache is not yet a household name, Digital Bearer Certificates are making a name for themselves and gaining wider use and exposure as this tumultuous e-currency year unfold.
For any of you online pro regulation activists who stand ready to complain that child pornographers and terrorist are using eCache, you should probably read these sections from eCache’s TOS.
Terms of Service
eCache does not have a physical presence and no law that we follow other then ethics. Since our money is anonymous digital cash, there is not much we can do about abusers.
Wow !
Popularity: 2% [?]
Sounds like phony bologna money to me! “We have gold in a safe deposit box in an undisclosed location”, no one knows how much, no accountability, no one knows who they are…sounds like…dare I say it….a Scam!
Wow, is right! Has anyone tried this?
Curt’s point is obvious but undeniable. They’ll have to stand the test of time before anyone uses them for larger transactions but time will work as a double edged sword. The longer they remain in business the more credibility they gain and the bigger they get. That’s a good thing but the problem is, the bigger they get, the more tempting a target they become for the boys in the black suits. The TOS quoted above sounds almost like a challenge.
Btw, clicking on the “eCache Interface” links takes me to my OpenDNS server.
According to their news section :
“A bond of 20.00 grams of 1MDC e-gold has been placed at Raven Escrow.”
I suppose, their safety net does not stand very well right now .. (with 1MDC frozen )
A bond of 20 grams? $400?
If these guys are for real, this currency could begin getting wider acceptance.. the anonymity part is quite important, and although it seems controversial it really shouldn’t be.
Cash is anonymous, and yet I don’t see anybody raising hell over cash’s anonymity. I don’t see many people saying:
“No, don’t give me that $50 bill! Cash is used by illicit pornographers, drug dealers and terrorists, so I don’t want to be associated with it! Get away from me!”
Therefore, to be fair, the anonymity shouldn’t be controversial at all. Would people abuse it? Sure, a tiny minority would, just like a tiny minority abuse cash, or abuse anything else in this world. Should we give up our freedoms and privacy so we can be ’safe’ from the 0.1% who misuse/abuse currencies or anything else? I say, heck no.
I’d be willing to test out this eCache thing myself but currently I know of no use for it so it’s a catch-22. I’ll try playing around with the COW money I suppose, in the meantime….
CashKing makes a great point. Anonymous transactions are not illegal, immoral or even unethical. I was also interested to learn several exchange well known exchange agents have now picked up eCache.
Personally, I don’t have a need for this much privacy, however I guess some folks do. Its definitely interesting, I’ve played with the COW and their system works pretty good, its so different from anything else I’ve used, its kinda cool.
However I don’t have any money in it and probably won’t use it beyond testing, I prefer webmoney, pecunix and knowing who you are doing business with
It will be fun watching it grow or not!
Mark
BTW Mark - how do you get the COW money? I just sent them an encrypted e-mail asking them how to get started, but you’ll probably answer more quickly. How do I obtain it initially?
That’s correct, I don’t have any direct emails or contacts.
Mark
ePanama - what I meant to ask you is, HOW did you get the ‘COW’ play money? You mentioned that you’ve played around with it, but how do you obtain it?
You can ring up Jim D. over at www.vertoro.com and he should fix you up with some. They do exchanges there for eCache also.
Mark
There is some interesting theoretical work that has been started on the best approach to auditing the stored value of anonymous digital bearer systems. I have spent a small amount of time on this issue, and rather a lot of time playing catch up on the e-gold front. It looks to me like it should be possible to validate this stuff. Meanwhile, I think Raven Escrow provides a very nice service which fairly neatly substitutes for an audit, for the time being. And, of course, creates a potential point of failure. Given the new “Rules of Continental Siege Warfare” mentality now pervading at the USA Secret Service (or is that Schutzstaffel?) it seems to me that what eCache is doing is going to be attacked, fairly soon.
(See Neal Stephenson’s “The Baroque Cycle” books for details on Continental Siege Warfare rules of engagement. Basically, any resistance from a village or bastion means that everyone inside is put to the sword. Surrender and mercy are only options at the start of the engagement. And not even always then.)
If you think eCache is nifty, think about using an encrypted root laptop from http://golightspeed.com/ and services like Torrify and
Diclave to enhance your privacy further. If you aren’t thinking about
data security, you should be. Those who mean to own your life and
the fruit of your labor have been.
Mr. Herpel is mistaken. I’d never heard of eCache play money before.
We do not do exchanges for eCache. Vertoro is a gold retailer. It might
be clever for someone who reports on this subject to review the laws
and regulations which attempt to subjugate (or “govern”) our industry.
There are certain exemptions, including one for gold retailers that do
not buy gold from the public, and one for gold sellers who do less than
$50K per year in sales.
So, what we do is not “exchanges” but sales. We sell gold. Since the
difference in terminology can get people charged with all kinds of
very unpleasant crimes that have long prison sentences, it would be
kinda nice to see some attention paid to such nuances and
terminology.
Meanwhile, I should also wish to point out that the sort of high
grade encryption involved in contacting eCache is available for
general use by, e.g., reporters who want to avoid being tortured
to death in the countries on whose policies they report, or by
ordinary digital gold users, with encrypted root laptops from
http://golightspeed.com/ and private communication services
from Diclave.net and Torrify.net.
Regards,
Jim
Someone mentioned that cash is just as anoymous as eCache.
I bet we wont hear that from anyone who has tried to move large amounts of cash notes internationally.
HYIP Hound - I believe you’re referring to me.
“I bet we wont hear that from anyone who has tried to move large amounts of cash notes internationally.”
Oh really? Been there, done that
Ever heard of Hong Kong?