Third-Party Money

We've become used to the idea that a social media or game developer would launch their own currency within their system. With Facebook Credits, we have a third-party cirtual money approach. That idea is apparent in other areas, notably GetJar Gold. GetJar is a distributor of Android apps, but it also offers a virtual currency service that can be integrated into the apps. For us iPhone users, it would be as if iTunes had something like "iBucks," where the iBuck appears in the apps you use.

 

This is an interesting parallel to the real world, where at some point it was deemed important to separate the monetary authority from the political authority. One runs the country, the other the country's money.

Comments

[Stabs]

1.

Or possibly it's simply that minting your own currency is seen as potentially highly lucrative.

[dataferret]

2.

It'd be interesting to hear from anyone closer to China where the Tencent's Q coin, competitors, and the government have been battling it out for more over half a decade.