An insight for consequences of e-business: possible case of cross border trading without using hard currency

Abstract

E-business has entered into a new era, where new types of payment are present. The payments between the debtor and creditor are not necessarily carried out by traditional "cash vs. goods" style any more. The mechanism of credit enhancement has already been changing as direct settlements increase. In addition, new kind of money is emerging; money that is not issued by the government but the users. There are movements of new local currency systems in Japan. That is not particularly limited within Japan but increasing number can be counted all over the world. Many of those mechanisms utilize the features of electronic settlements. Recently, systems that propose the protocols for P2P settlement are gaining attention. This paper discusses the present evolution of such systems (ex. WAT-system) and foresees what comes next, that is to say, "Local currency becomes global currency" in cross border trading.