CONNECTING EUROPE FACILITY - The story of Digicash and its eCash

Before Satoshi Nakamoto and Bitcoin, there was a first attempt to create a decentralised and cryptographic digital money by cryptographer David Schaum. Focused on privacy, he laid the groundwork of a new concept, the so-called public key encryption ("Blind signatures for untraceable payments").

date: 18/09/2019

DigiCash was founded in 1990 and eCash, the first fully electronic money, in 1993. Although he struck deals with big names like Deutsche Bank, the newly created alternative money system lacked traction and some promising deals were turned down, like the one with Bill Gates, which aimed to incorporate eCash in every copy of Windows 95. In the end it was a plethora of problems that lead to the eventual demise of DigiCash and their revolutionary eCash. Eventually they had to declare bankruptcy in 1998.