MintChip

No connection to mint chocolate chip ice cream, MintChip was a scheme of the Canadian government, run by the Royal Canadian Mint, to provide electronic currency. It is denominated in Canadian dollars rather than a truly independent currency unit, so perhaps it belongs under "payment services" rather than true "electronic currencies". It appears to be getting discontinued in 2013 with the pieces sold off to private companies, after a fairly short lifespan.

The "Mint" in the name refers to the government's mint, which took on electronic-currency duties alongside the minting of physical metal coins. The "Chip" refers to smart-card chips which can be used to hold and transmit digital encryption keys used for transactions, which are conducted anonymously as with many other electronic currencies.

Links

 * Wikipedia article
 * The MintChip Challenge
 * Wired article