Marshall Islands on mission to create its own cryptocurrency to reduce reliance on US dollar
- ‘With the blockchain technology in place, we thought this was an opportune time to establish our own legal tender’, a minister said
“With the blockchain technology in place, we thought this was an opportune time to establish our own legal tender” and lessen the nation’s dependence on the US dollar, Paul said in an interview from the sidelines of the conference.
“As a small country it’s going to be easier and faster for us to make decisions and respond to the market” as a digital coin is introduced.
The country does not have a starting date set yet, as officials still need to resolve compliance and regulatory issues, and work with entities like the US Treasury and the International Monetary Fund, Paul said. In a February 2018 interview, he had told Bloomberg that plans were to issue the coin later that year.
The SOV has built-in compliance features and its supply will grow at a fixed rate of 4 per cent a year, according to the statement, which added that only verified users will be able to transact in SOV.