The advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web opened the door to a new commercial opportunity: electronic currency. Although credit cards initially filled this niche, they still relied on paper currencies. However, in the early 22nd century, currency swings in the world economy showed the danger in such archaic systems. To escape such pressures, the Global E-bank was founded. Supervised by the new Hyperturing AIs, the E-bank ran without officers or offices. Its sole purpose was to provide a stable, protected transaction for all - in return for a small fee.