What does it mean to send funds offline?

Sending funds offline is made possible through the use of eCash and works similarly to issuing a cashier's check, where the funds are proactively deducted from the sender's federation wallet balance before the recipient attempts to claim them.

This is particularly useful when the sender and recipient are together in person but not connected to the internet, which is where the process gets its name. The transfer of issued eCash notes can be done entirely offline, and only the recipient needs to eventually come online for the transaction to settle.