E-gold

The pair originally backed e-gold accounts with gold coins stored in a safe deposit box in Melbourne, Florida.

[7] In a July 13, 1999 article in the Financial Times, Tim Jackson (no relation to Douglas) described e-gold as "the only electronic currency that has achieved critical mass on the web".

[11] By the early 2000s, the capability of immediate settlement, as implemented by e-gold, was recognized as key to the emergence of systems for peer-to-peer transfers of digital rights such as "smart contracts".

Law enforcement could use e-gold's account and transaction records, cross-referenced with data from exchangers, to identify criminal users of the service.

[22] In a lengthy article in BusinessWeek's January 9, 2006 issue, a reporter wrote that online payment systems, including e-gold, have become popular among merchants engaged in carding, identity theft, and money laundering.

[16] The Western Express Cybercrime Group, a five-man fraud syndicate based in Eastern Europe, engaged in carding, selling illegally obtained goods and using e-gold and other digital currencies to store the proceeds.

[25] In November 2008, Jackson was sentenced to 300 hours of community service, a $200 fine, and three years of supervision, including six months of electronically monitored home detention.

[26] Reid Jackson, Douglas's brother, and Barry Downey, a company director, were each sentenced to three years of probation and 300 hours of community service, and ordered to pay a $2,500 fine and a $100 assessment.