Crypto accounts?

BIS trying their hand at semantics of the sandbox:

“An area where the BIS will devote a lot of resources is to virtual assets, which traditionally are called cryptocurrencies, but we don’t believe that they are currencies,” Carstens said.

Bitcoin is really a crypto web wallet backed by the blockchain ledger. The cash transaction  is between the wallet owner and web wallet, the owner sends an encrypted instruction to trade, a one step transaction.  The exchange is a single point guaranteed 'no double spend'  protocol, with timeout. But it only spends on the blockchain.

So, right now we have mostly web accounts protected with crypto watermarks. The exchanges give access to traditional bank ledger services and blockchain.  It is not currency, it is a digital account system and it has found a huge niche, international FX.

We have a significant minority with hardware wallets, otherwise known as intelligent cash cards.  The card will send and erase watermarks, correctly, it is both exchange and account. The watermarks they pass, and the erase protocol,  allows complex protocols (smart contracts) to be decomposed into a  sequence of cash transactions, with timeout.