Re:Getting ready to operate GNU Taler in Germany
by grothoff on Thursday October 22, 2026 @05:23PM
(#50201248)
The privacy properties for P2P transfers between consumers are identical to those with merchants: the exchange can require the receiver to provide information about themselves, but the payer remains anonymous just like for purchases at a merchant. And yes, it involves spending (burning, if you prefer) the old tokens (we prefer digital coins) and issuing (blindly signing) fresh coins. Afterwards, the fresh digital coins are indistinguishable from those issued during a regular withdrawal from a bank account.
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Re:Getting ready to operate GNU Taler in Germany
by F3nd0 on Thursday October 22, 2026 @06:57PM
(#50202251)
Would it be technically possible to transfer tokens to another user directly, without an exchange acting as an intermediate?
My assumption is that this is possible but not supported by default, since there’s no way to guarantee (without using an exchange) that the giver has really deleted the tokens they sent to the receiver, and will not spend them before the receiver can (which would render the receiver’s copy of the tokens unusable).
But assuming someone implements this in software, would it be possible to make direct transfers like this while relying entirely on trust? Or are the tokens somehow tied to the wallet that has first received them?
Re:Getting ready to operate GNU Taler in Germany
by grothoff on Friday October 23, 2026 @03:11AM
(#50205439)
You can backup tokens and restore them to another wallet (and we are in the process of making that easier). We call that sharing, and it is not a transaction as it is simply granting access to the same money to both wallets.
Re:Getting ready to operate GNU Taler in Germany
by marc_taler on Friday October 23, 2026 @08:52AM
(#50208217)
No, the "coins" (as we call them) are not tied to the wallet - if you trust the sender to delete them after you received them, then you can use them from your wallet as if you withdrew them, or got them via the standard P2P send protocol.
Re:Getting ready to operate GNU Taler in Germany
by _jackdk_ on Thursday October 22, 2026 @06:21PM
(#50201886)
Right, because you can issue coins as a "purchase" of the coins being transferred. That makes sense, but still doesn't address the concerns around the system being designed to support negative interest rates and withdrawal rate limits.