The project GNU presented the free system of electronic payments Gnu taler 0.14. GNU Taler includes basic components that allow organizing the work of the bank, exchange points, trading platform, wallet, and auditor. The system allows sellers to be identified for tax reporting but provides anonymity for customers. The project ngi taler is working to create a product based on GNU Taler ready for use in the European Union. Development financing is supported by grants from the European Commission and the State Secretariat of Switzerland for education, research, and innovation (SERI). The code is written in Python and distributed under the licenses of AGPLV3 and LGPLV3.
The GNU Taler payment system is not tied to its own cryptocurrency and works with existing currencies such as dollars, euros, and bitcoins. Support for new currencies is done through binding to a bank that acts as a financial guarantor for operations. The project promotes a business model based on exchange operations, where traditional payments like Bitcoin, MasterCard, Sepa, Visa, Ach, and SWIFT are converted into anonymous electronic money in the same currency. Users can transfer electronic money to sellers, who can then exchange it back for real money at an exchange point.
Transactions in GNU Taler remain reliable even if the private keys of customers, sellers, and exchange points are leaked. The database format allows verification of all transactions and confirmation of their consistency. Payment confirmation for sellers is cryptographic evidence of the transfer within the client contract, along with cryptographically signed confirmation of fund availability at the exchange point. The system maintains sender anonymity while tracking fund receipt at the recipient end, addressing tax audit issues common with Bitcoin.
The main changes:
- The ability to limit the size of transactions and the amount returned.
- Simplification of analysis of suspicious transactions for employees responsible for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) by determining rules for previously unencountered bank accounts.
- Implementation of two new auxiliary processes