Whether you believe in the gold standard or not, this article was not about that. There are many things they did that are very applicable to current startups.

Whether you believe in the gold standard or not, this article was not about that. There are many things they did that are very applicable to current startups. In particular governance models and transparency are very much issues that current startups need to worry about. The point about Know Your Customer is also an important one. In the 90's when e-gold started there was a lot of experimenting with this. Most people in the industry were weary about government involvement, but didn't think it was going to affect them. At some point it isn't inconceivable that social networks, email service providers and others will be required to follow similar Know Your Customer procedures to banks. Several countries are already starting to institute this.