Suggestion: Remove "non-fiat money" from the draft Web Payments IC Charter

I just now noticed the phrase "non-fiat money" in the second bullet point
of the first section on scope, which reads in its entirety:

"Non-traditional currencies (this term covers multiple cases such as the
commonly called cryptocurrencies
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptocurrency>, digital currencies, virtual
currencies, non-fiat money. This category is sometimes designed as
"non-governmental units-of-account" by some International organizations )"

The phrase "non-fiat money" is an anomaly in this otherwise precise and
meaningful statement. It introduces confusion, because whether or not
something is deemed by fiat to represent or to communicate value is
orthogonal to whether or not it is a traditional currency instrument.
Certainly, for example, BTC's reputation and reported unit value is based
upon a community fiat.

Tentatively I would recommend to remove "non-fiat money" with no need to
replace it with anything instead.However perhaps those who recommended to
include this phrase would prefer to suggest a substitute that communicates
better what they intended, while also resolving the issue I'm raising here.

-- 
Joseph Potvin
Operations Manager | Gestionnaire des opérations
The Opman Company | La compagnie Opman
jpotvin@opman.ca
Mobile: 819-593-5983

Received on Monday, 1 September 2014 15:25:35 UTC