Current paper cheques are part of a wider class of instruments, called bills of exchange. Whereas today the attention is focused on cheques, nothing prevents the issue of digital bills of exchange of different kinds. Digital bills could be digitally signed, endorsed and transferred just like paper ones. Another class of documents which could be digitalized is shares and bonds. To put it in the simplest way possible, a share is a certificate, signed by a company, granting its owner certain rights and obligations.
Bonds are documents acknowledging the debt of a company towards the owner of the bond.
The transfer of the document thus implies the transfer of the rights incorporated. From here onwards, I will refer to such a notion, which is more general, and which I know better. Titles of credit were originally created to make the transfer and negotiation of the wealth they represent easier. Using titles of credit solves many problems which prevent the circulation of wealth. More recently, however, titles of credit have started to show their limits.