First Canadian City Launches Its Own Crypto to Boost Economic Growth
The city of Calgary in Canada has become the first city in the country to issue its own digital currency called the Calgary Digital Dollar.
By Julia SakovichUpdated
3 mins readPhoto: Calgary Dollars / Instagram
Bearish market trends shouldn’t be considered to be a sign of upcoming collapse; it is just another stage of the market development. While some crypto fans are losing hope, some others still strongly believe in the bright future. This principle can be applied not only to the situation with individuals or businesses but also to the whole cities.
Calgary Digital Dollar
It has become known that Calgary, Canada, has launched a digital version of its local currency and become the first city in the country to realize such an initiative.
The digital currency is known as the Calgary Digital Dollar and it is designed to be used in this city that is situated in the Canadian Alberta Province. Nevertheless, this digital asset won’t replace the fiat currency and will be utilized alongside the traditional federal currency, the Canadian Dollar (CAD) which is also called the loonie.
Joe Ceci, the finance minister for the province of Alberta, is the head of the project. The main idea behind the initiative is to boost local economic development via achieving the incentivization thanks to the use of digital assets.
Local businesses will have an opportunity to accept up to 100 percent of the payments that they receive for their services or products in the Calgary Digital Dollar. But they also will be obliged to receive at least 10 percent of payments in the digital currency.
The ancestor of the Calgary Digital Dollar is the Calgary Dollar, a common initiative of the city, small companies and non-profit organizations. It became available in 1996 and since that time it has been used as a complementary currency to ensure local businesses that the value generated in the local economy stays within this system.
How It Works
To show how the Calgary Digital Dollar can be used, Ceci conducted the first transaction and paid for coffee using the digital currency. Users will manage their digital holdings via their smartphone app which also displays the full list of shops and cafes where it is possible to pay in the digital currency.
There isn’t a possibility to purchase or cash out the Calgary Digital Dollar in the same ways as it is possible to do with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. To earn their digital assets Calgary residents can take surveys or refer new participants. It will be possible to get a reward in the form of the CAD for posting ads on the Calgary Dollars website or via an app and also for making payment in Canadian dollars.
The Calgary Digital Dollar will be used not only for making purchases, as it also can be donated to Take Action Grants organization which supports local community projects. Moreover, the local authorities will accept this digital currency as a form of license payments.
World’s Practice
Calgary is not a pioneer in such an experiment. Earlier this year, it has been revealed that Orania, a South African community, launched its own cryptocurrency called the E-Ora. The E-Ora is issued to be used just within this small community comprised of 1,600 people.
In addition, there’s Venezuela’s famous Petro token, created back in December 2017 to combat US sanctions. Now President Maduro is all set to go as far as to sidestep USD and start selling oil for Petros starting from 2019.
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