By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 12th, 2024
The physical banknotes of the Sovereign, the world’s first decentralized digital national currency, will join the U.S. dollar as the official legal tender of the Marshall Islands.
Some governments have so much belief in cryptos that are ready to absolutely legalize them. The first jurisdiction to issue a legal cryptocurrency in February 2018 was the Marshal Islands, where authorities ordered the circulation of the digital currency along with US dollar. They have gone further, deciding to have a digital national currency. Such a currency will be issued by Switzerland-based smart card wallet manufacturer Tangem.
The announcement has been made by Tangem that will issue the physical banknotes of the sovereign (SOV) – the world’s first decentralized digital national currency. When issued, SOV will join the U.S. dollar as the official legal tender of the Republic of the Marshall Islands(RMI).
According to the press release, this initiative of issuing physical notes will “ensure all citizens of the Marshall Islands” to “have fair and equal access to their digital currency, whether or not they have [an] internet connection.”
SOV will be completely backed by blockchain technology. Due to the immediate transaction validation, zero fees and no Internet connection requirements for the end users, Tangem banknotes will enable the off-chain physical circulation of the SOV among all SOV holders and will not impose the technical infrastructure burden on the RMI.
Each Tangem card will take the form of a unique physical banknote with a secure blockchain-enabled microprocessor inside. The banknotes are expected to be absolutely transparent and secure. Combining both the advantages of paper notes and blockchain technology, SOV will represent a controllable mechanism of currency issuance and circulation for the state.
David Paul, minister-in-assistance to the President of the Marshall Islands, commented:
“We are excited to bring in Tangem as another reputable and forward-thinking partner on our journey to create the world’s first sovereign digital currency. Tangem will help us ensure all citizens, including those living on more remote outer islands, are able to easily and practically transact using SOV.”
As Tangem co-founder Andrey Kurennykh said, the initiative demonstrates the wider adoption of digital currencies, and for the Marshall Islands, it is a truly revolutionary experiment that can attract a lot of crypto enthusiasts and investors there.
Andrey Kurennykh said:
“We are excited to partner with the Republic of the Marshall Islands to do something that has never been done before: issue a digital currency as official legal tender. As the IMF has noted, the world is moving towards the widespread adoption of digital currencies, and we are excited to support the birth of the new global digital economy.”
Other National Cryptos
SOV is not the first cryptocurrency supported at the governmental level. Everybody has heard of Petro, oil-backed cryptocurrency issued by the government of Venezuela. The President has made a lot of efforts to promote Petro, even forcing local organizations to use it as an official accounting unit and linked the pension system to the Petro.
The launch of the Petro was viewed by the country’s government as a tool to overcome the hyperinflation and to combat with the sanctions imposed by the U.S. Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro believes a lot in Petro.
Despite there were some doubts about the existence of this oil-backed crypto, this currency really exists, which has been recently proven.