A province in South Korea is blueprinting the idea of issuing its very own crypto that will take the place of a local currency in nine cities. An exchange will be created for the new crypto. Within the province, QR codes will be used for the crypto payments.
A local newspaper reported that the province of Gyeongsangbuk-do of South Korea is planning to adopt crypto.
Nine cities in the province, also referred to as Gyeongbuk have city-issued gift certificates that work as currency in certain areas of the province. This isn’t unique only to the Gyeongbuk province, as reportedly 60 cities in Korea have a similar program that is intended to reboot the local economy.
One of the major cities of the Gyeongbuk province Pohang issued $90 million worth of gift certificates since January 2017, according to a local newspaper, making them Korea’s biggest gift certificate issuer.
The name for the upcoming crypto is not yet finalized, currently, the unsettled name is the Gyeongbuk coin. It is expected that $90 million worth of coins will be issued each year.
An exchange is planned, where it will be possible to acquire and sell the Gyeongbuk coin. With the crypto, the citizens will be able to make payments and purchases via QR codes.
However, the crypto isn’t quite yet ready, the head of the province’s Science and Technology Policy Department, Chung Sung-Hyun claimed: “There are still many issues to be resolved…[such as] notifying merchants of the way, they can use [the] coins, creating separate programs and issuing [the] coins (cryptocurrencies).”
In order to increase their knowledge about the implementing crypto, a team of experts and officials was sent to the Swiss canton of Zug, which boasts a large number of successful crypto startups like Shapeshift, Xapo, and the Ethereum Foundation.
Afterward, an official said: “I think we can utilize the experience gained through benchmarking by making the identity cards for 5,000 Gyeongbuk provincial government employees like Zug as blockchain-based digital ID cards.”
WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?
- The province is planning to exchange its local currency to crypto, suggesting the region is trying to get a degree of economic freedom and independence from the state.
- One of the larger regions in South Koreas with a population of over 2,5 million people will have crypto circulating in almost all of its cities.