This did not prevent certain pandering journalists from falsely accusing it of being responsible for pornography on the Internet. Yet most people distributing pornography want to be paid for it. They cannot set up a channel to receive payments without leaving a trail that police can follow if necessary. Several such systems have been proposed, and would bring welcome anonymity to Internet financial transactions. The basis of such systems is an online bank.
Customers buy electronic tokens, each representing a few cents or a few dollars.
The customer then tells the bank whenever he or she wants to buy something. The bank deducts the necessary tokens from the customer's account and ensures that the seller receives the money, but there is no record of any transaction between the seller and buyer. Some worry that digital cash, if it becomes widespread, will lead to an explosion of money laundering. But already, under the current financial system, people with money to hide seem to have no trouble finding others to help them. Most other abuses of online anonymity, similarly, can also be promulgated through traditional means.