That could very well be what they mean, though that isn't offline at all and is no different than my offline credit card being run through an online card reader

That could very well be what they mean, though that isn't offline at all and is no different than my offline credit card being run through an online card reader If they want to compare it to cash, I'd have to be able to give you the money directly without any network verification. Just the step of a receiver having to ask the network to validate means there is no guarantee of privacy.