IOU

A conditional transfer of Ownership over a stated quantity of a scarce good, delivered later. The issuer keeps possession until the due date, and title passes on the terms the parties set. An IOU is worth exactly the Trust behind it, because trust is the only thing that makes a future delivery likely. An issuer who holds what the note names and refuses to deliver commits Theft. An issuer who cannot deliver has taken nothing, and the holder may reach only what the terms provide. It is Fraud only when the issuer never intended to deliver, or hid the facts that made delivery impossible.