It isn't a new currency in the sense that you can, as a central back, configure the server to use "your" currency, and begin converting cash into taler tokens.

It isn't a new currency in the sense that you can, as a central back, configure the server to use "your" currency, and begin converting cash into taler tokens. For the demo it's unfeasible to use a preexisting currency, because they can't give out free money :-). So the obv. solution was taken to configure their server for a imaginary currency (KUDOS & TESTKUDOS) 100 if which are created out of thin air after you register. To get started, I'd recommend downloading the wallet (extension or mobile[0]) and registering an account with their demo bank. With the creation of that account, you should receive 100KUDOS tokens of which you can withdraw to your mobile phone / extension. Do so and you'll get a QR code to scan with the amount of KUDOS selected on the web interface. With that "money" you can now go to their demo shop and "buy" excerpts from rms's Free Software, Free Society, or "donate" to a few projects (try donating 5 kudos to simulate a malicious merchant), by again, scanning a QR-Code. If you want to know the details, I'd recommend the paper "How to issue a central bank digital currency[1]" which is very much like Taler. [0]: https://f-droid.org/packages/net.taler.wallet.fdroid [1]: https://www.snb.ch/en/mmr/papers/id/working_paper_2021_03