Dot Com Era Digital Currency

Flooz, Beenz, Digicash.. Anyone remember these digital currencies from the dot com boom days? Maybe not but they are great examples how alternative currencies can get plenty of attention from media and investors and crash down to non-existence.

These digital currency of these type were not terrible and were probably taken down by the tech bubble that threw them into financial obligations they weren't capable of. Which points to a big difference between them and cryptocurrency like bitcoin: They were centralized, bitcoin is decentralized. These digital currencies were tied to institutions that could fail or whose practices dictated the success of the digital currency. Cryptocurrency is decentralized and is valued by the market and the community who uses it.

In this article they mention how Digicash was popular amongst libertarians and like minded who were seeking a currency out of the hands of government control. That reminded me that the first time I ever heard of bitcoin was during an interview that took place during the occupy wall street protests. Bitcoin was being argued as an alternative to the dollar whose mortality was inevitable. I thought to myself "ha that will never catch on"..

3 Pre-Bitcoin Virtual Currencies That Bit the Dust