[JoelJacobson]

I'm not suggesting using alternative currencies or changing anything for that part of how banks are governed or how to handle backing of money. That's out of the scope of what I had in mind.

And the goal is of course not one single bank. By making it open source, you encourage others to copy you, to set up another bank, hopefully better than yours. In the end, you hopefully end up with hundreds of banks using the same open source system.

The diversity means the society will spread the risk, so if one bank screws up, the damage won't be as big.

[uown]

That's brilliant! I would says the banks of power would fight hard against something like this, but I cant help but see this coming about, it makes sense! The effect technology has on consumer behavior, the way we shop, the way we buy in general makes this something I think is probably already happening. has a look okay... well they exist and there is quite a few(haven't done any digging).