Disintermediating Electronic Payments: Digital Cash and Virtual Currencies

Digital cash may be issued privately (so as to be called "virtual currency") or by a central bank. It may be a cryptocurrency, randomised or tethered. Its scheme may be centralised or decentralised and its value may be self-anchored or of a specified fiat currency. By facilitating electronic transmission of payment media between distant parties as an equivalent to handto- hand physical delivery of cash, digital currency schemes may irreversibly transform the global payments landscape and require novel legal solutions.