Credit, money and (pseudo-)anonymity

We study pseudonymity—an information regime where agents’ histories are perfectly observable, but linked only to pseudonyms rather than to true identities. A key feature is that agents may open and use multiple pseudonyms simultaneously. In a tractable environment with limited commitment, we characterize the set of stationary credit equilibria under pseudonymity, showing that it forms a strict non-empty subset of equilibria attainable under a no anonymity regime, where histories are publicly linked to true identities. Moreover, money is always essential under pseudonymity, yet cannot co-exist with credit. Finally, imposing optimal fees on pseudonym creation generally raises welfare, whereas making pseudonyms tradable never does.