[Foundation-l] e-gold proposal

[Douglas Jackson]

Jens Ropers wrote:

> It's just too bleedin complicated to get money into the e-gold system. 
> If e-gold already WAS a pervasive world currency, accepted as 
> frequently as, say, VISA cards, THEN it probably would make sense to 
> make it difficult to move money into or out of the e-gold system. This 
> would make sure most parties keep their funds in their e-gold accounts 
> and pay each other, circulating the money that way, yadda, yadda, 
> yadda. It would NOT be nice to thus make things difficult, but it 
> would make sense. Seeing however that e-gold is an "also-ran" in the 
> e-payment market, this just doesn't make effin sense. As a user, I 
> expect a single page where I can punch in a few numbers and be done. 
> e-gold will only grow if they CATER FOR END USERS, with the 
> possibility of e-gold internal money circulation arriving almost as an 
> afterthought.
> ...

I apologize for my tardy response, if response is desired... I've been 
traveling.

It is difficult to compare e-gold in an apples-to-apples way to other 
payment systems. All other online payment systems (whether prominent or 
"also-ran") function as credit card intermediaries, enabling the 
recipient to accept payment from someone who wants to pay using their 
credit card. The majority of adults on earth though not only have never 
had a credit card but are unbanked altogether. Is there any prospect 
that these invisible masses suffer from an up-til-now frustrated desire 
to make donations to the Wiki Foundation? Who can say? It is certain 
though they won't be using PayPal, iBill, CCBill, MoneyBookers, Neteller 
or any other such system anytime soon because they absolutely can't. But 
nothing prevents them from accepting e-gold payments and making e-gold 
payments.

The purported inconvenience of exchanging conventional currencies for 
e-gold is entirely a function of the deficiencies of existing payment 
systems. An e-gold payment features cash-like finality. The exchange 
intermediary who accepts a credit card payment and clicks an e-gold 
payment in fulfillment will lose money because of the fraud risk of 
accepting plastic. This is the same reason you can't use your credit 
card at the currency exchange kiosk at the airport.

But to reiterate - the Foundation's only interest should be to attract 
some of the e-gold that's already zipping around out there [how the 
donor acquired the e-gold is immaterial]. Last year, e-gold users 
collectively received (and made, of course)  $700 million worth of 
e-gold payments.

>
> I'm not the Wikimedia Foundation, but if I was the Wikimedia 
> Foundation, then I would stay well clear of e-gold unless and until 
> they get their act together. It's not in our interest to make it 
> difficult and frustrating for people to donate money to us. (Plus it's 
> not in our interest to have that money in a "currency" we can't use to 
> pay for, say, new Apache boxen -- ie. we ultimately need to put the 
> dough into WMF bank accounts anyway.) 

My net salary is paid in e-gold. I therefore don't really need a bank. I 
hold value in the form of e-gold and use OmniPay as an intermediary for 
using that value to pay mortgage, credit card bills or anything else 
where otherwise I might send a check.