Digital currency founded DigiCash, an electronic cash company, in Amsterdam to commercialize the ideas in his research. It filed for bankruptcy in 1998. In 1999, Chaum left the company. In 1997, Coca-Cola offered buying from vending machines using mobile payments. After that PayPal emerged in 1998. Other systems followed suit, such as e-gold, but it faced issues because it was used by criminals and was closed by U.S Department of Justice in 2005. In 2008, bitcoin was introduced, which marked the start of digital currencies. Origins of digital currencies date back to the 1990s Dot-com bubble. One of the first was E-gold,
Ven (currency) Initially, it was transferred using a Facebook application. By late 2008, it could be transferred using email addresses. Later it was positioned as an international digital currency. In December 2009 Hub Culture began using Ven as a micropayment system for the distribution of content produced by members in the network, allowing users to charge access to individual articles or videos posted inside the network system. In 2009, "The Wall Street Journal" described the currency as being pegged to the US dollar, and used by Hub Culture's users to trade goods, services, and knowledge. One user described having been paid in