The digital cash “Bitcoin” exploded last year to all time highs and a household name, but was not the first virtual currency! Here are a few past use cases that might surprise you.

Early First Credit Cards 1958-1966

Bank of America’s BankAmericard was first issued in 1958, then spun off into Visa same year. The card was able to be used at participating merchants only.

DigiCash Inc. 1989

David Chuam founder of this electronic money corporation, created the first anonymous electronic payment system using cryptographic protocols. This allowed for the privacy for online transactions and detected double spending. Could David be the real Nakamoto Satoshi?

Internets Birth 1990

Without the invention of the world wide web, electronic transfers would not be possible in pure electronic form like we know it today.

E-Gold Digital Cash 1996-2009

Gold & Silver Reserve Inc under e-gold Ltd, was the first successful digital cash system to gain widespread adoption. Founders Douglas Jackson and Barry Downey had over 1 million clients by 2004.

Federal Reserve Quantitative Easing

We all know about inflation when governments print money, but heating up the printing press is not always the case. After the 2008 market crash, the Federal Reserve bought bonds from banks and paid the bill in “electronic cash”.

Conclusion: Digital Cash

One world electronic cash or many, seems like the next logical progression. Being that only about 8% of the world’s money is paper, have we already arrived? There may be no turning back to anything less than digital cash!

What do you think about all these bits & bites?