Electronic cash eliminating payment risk
US6415271B1 · kind B1 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Mar 26, 1999 |
| Grant date | Jul 2, 2002 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Mar 26, 2019 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06Q20/403
- WIPO fieldIT methods for management
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
A system and method to allow gold to circulate as digital cash through the global computer network (Internet) and/or private communication networks, in both hardwired and wireless systems, much like cash currently circulates in the physical world. A computer system is structured to allow the system user who is attached to the network to transfer digital data values based on gold units of account to or from a portable electronic device, such as a smartcard, and to or from other system users having compatible electronic devices. The sum total of all circulating digital data values will equal the weight of all the gold held for safekeeping at the storage site(s) for the users of the bank. The ownership of the electronic gold values is not transferred by a computer system executing debits and credits between individual accounts, but instead by individuals directly transferring the digital data values amongst themselves (as is done in cash transactions, i.e., without double-entry bookkeeping).
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.