Description

Digital currency is any money that, instead of existing in physical form (such as money or banknotes) exists in a digital form, stored inside centralized servers owned and managed by government/corporations.
This is not to be confused with the so-called "cryptocurrencies" who are still digital in their nature, but exist in a decentralized/distributed form.

Potential

Because of their highly centralized nature, this kind of money is inherently much more harmful to its users' rights compared to regular one, because it allows the organizations who manage it to deprive the users of control over their own finances in several highly malicious ways which are not possible with regular money, like for example:
- Controlling what the user buys and/or sells, violating their basic right to privacy and anonimity
- Putting arbitrary limitations on the amount of money one is allowed to gain or spend
- Depriving the user the ability to purchase and/or sell determined things, potentially even cutting him/her out from any source of sustainment
- Enforcing the payment of transaction costs and other more or less exploitative and arbitrary taxes
In a money based economy like the current one, an eventual takeover of this kind of money over the regular one (a concept also known as "Cashless society") will make people completely unable to live without submitting themselves to the will of the centralized organizations who manage the system, which is tantamount to a direct return to serfdom.

Status

Digital currency is already widespread and the rate of its adoption is increasing.