Mutual Accounts

Peers may hold an account with trusted peers for simplied claims.

Anyone who decides to trust a peer basically states their reliance on claimable assets. In this case, it is usually attractive to allow individual claims to collect into an account, from which bulk claims can be made from time to time.

When making a claim to be paid with a minted coin this must be done where the underlying value or its title of ownership rests. This has been the audited basis for minting in the first place, so instant delivery is a fair expectation (anything else might raise concerns if the value was indeed fully backed by the minting party). When the claiming party has an account with the minting party, then it is possible to transfer the ownership to that account, if that is what this account expresses. It usually matters to the account holder if this is still a value off the balance sheet of the account managing party, and if the value is indeed owned by them.

It is vital for auditing systems with such accounts that the underlying value represents not only coinage in circulation, but als the value deposited on the accounts denominated in that Sensible Taler currency.

Trust is the foundation for a payment network.

Minting parties can form networks easily by pro-actively validating trust relations with as many others as feasible. This will often lead to mutually held accounts representing what "the other" can claim from us and vice versa.

Mutually trusting parties cannot choose to cancel funds in mutual accounts against each other, or to deposit funds in the mutual funds, because that would offset the backing of those accounts. But they can choose to compensate differences via a physical transfer when their mutual accounts loose their balance. This would be reflected in the audited balances, and involve transfer of the physical underlying value or the title of ownership.