After a year and a half of development, the GNU project presented the release of the free system of electronic payments GNU Taler 0.10, which provides anonymity to customers while retaining the possibility of identifying sellers to ensure transparency in tax reporting. The system does not track information on where users spend money but allows tracking of funds receipt (sender remains anonymous), addressing tax audit issues seen with Bitcoin. The code is written in Python and is distributed under the licenses of AGPLV3 and LGPLV3.
GNU Taler does not create its own cryptocurrency but works with existing currencies such as dollars, euros, and bitcoins. Support for new currencies can be added through the establishment of a bank acting as a financial guarantor. The business model of GNU Taler involves exchange operations – converting money from traditional payment systems like Bitcoin, MasterCard, Sepa, Visa, Ach, and Swift into anonymous electronic money in the same currency. Users can transfer electronic money to sellers who can then convert it back to real money through traditional payment systems at exchange points.
All transactions in GNU Taler are protected using modern cryptographic algorithms to ensure reliability even in the event of leaked private keys of customers, sellers, and exchange points. The database format allows verification of all transactions and confirming their consistency. Payment confirmation for sellers includes cryptographic evidence of the transfer within the client contract and a cryptographically signed confirmation of fund availability at exchange points. GNU Taler comprises basic components for the bank’s operation, exchange points, trading platform, wallet, and auditor.
Development funding comes from grants from the European Commission, the Switzerland Secretary of State of Education, and the State Secretariat of Switzerland on Research and Innovation (SERI). The project ngi Taler aims to produce a product based on GNU Taler ready for use in the European Union.
The main changes:
- Keys’ exchange support added using the EBICS 3.0 protocol for secure payment exchange between banks. A utility called lifeufin-nexus facilitates sending requests to banks via