<nettime> Digicash going under...

[bigmac <bigmac@xs4all.nl>]

http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,28360,00.html

By Tim Clark
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
November 4, 1998, 6:05 p.m. PT 

Electronic-cash pioneer DigiCash said today it's filing for Chapter 11
bankruptcy protection after shrinking its payroll to about six people from
nearly 50 in February.

The company, which has been running off a bridge loan from its venture
capital investors since June, is seeking new investors from established
financial institutions or a buyer for its software technology. The
company's operations in the Netherlands, where it was founded, were
liquidated in September.

"To really launch and brand something like this in the Internet space is
likely to take a fair amount more capital," said Scott Loftesness,
DigiCash's interim CEO since August. "It's more appropriate for strategic
investors, corporate players or banks themselves as a consortium model."

Electronic-cash schemes have found difficult sledding recently. First
Virtual Holdings, which had a form of e-cash, exited the business in July.
CyberCash's CyberCoin offering hasn't really caught on. Digital Equipment,
now part of Compaq Computer is testing its Millicent electronic cash, and
IBM is in early trials for a product called Minipay.

Under bankruptcy laws, DigiCash's Chapter 11 filing allows the company to
continue operations, while keeping its creditors at bay as the company
reorganizes. Most of DigiCash's $4 million in debt is owed to its initial
venture capital financiers who extended the bridge loan, August Capital,
Applied Technology, and Dutch investment firm Gilde Investment.

DigiCash's eCash allows consumers to make anonymous payments of any
amount--and anonymity differentiates eCash against other e-cash schemes.
DigiCash's intellectual property assets include patents, protocols, and
software systems that also could be used for applications, like online
electronic voting or private scrip issued by a particular retailer.

DigiCash suffered a setback in September when the only U.S. bank offering
its scheme, Mark Twain Bank, dropped the offering. But a number of major
banks in Europe and Australia offer or are testing DigiCash's electronic
cash.

Also in September, DigiCash closed its Dutch operations and liquidated its
assets there.

Loftesness said DigiCash has a list of 35-40 potential partners, and he
has been talking to players like IBM for months. He expects to resolve
DigiCash's status in the next five months.

"Everybody feels anonymous e-cash is inevitable, but the existing
situation was not going to get there from here," said Loftesness, who is
frustrated by potential partners telling him, "This is absolutely
strategic, but unfortunately it's not urgent."

The company was founded by David Chaum and was well-known in the
Internet's earliest days. MIT Media Labs' Nicholas Negroponte is a
director of DigiCash.


---
#  distributed via nettime-l : no commercial use without permission
#  <nettime> is a closed moderated mailinglist for net criticism,
#  collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets
#  more info: majordomo@desk.nl and "info nettime-l" in the msg body
#  URL: http://www.desk.nl/~nettime/  contact: nettime-owner@desk.nl