Ecuador is planning to create the world's first government-issued digital currency, which some analysts believe could be a first step toward abandoning the country's existing currency, the U.S. dollar, which the government cannot control.
The virtual currency, which Central Bank officials say they expect will start circulating in December, does not yet have a name and officials would not disclose technical details, though they said it would not be like Bitcoin. The amount of the new currency created would depend on demand.
Deputy director Gustavo Solorzano said it is to exist in tandem with the greenback and, by law, be backed by liquid assets. It would be geared toward the 2.8 million Ecuadoreans - 40 percent of participants in the economy - too poor to afford traditional banking, officials say.
Users initially will be able to make and receive payments at minimal cost using their cellphones, Solorzano said. Such mobile payments schemes are already popular in African nations including Kenya and Tanzania, where they are privately run.
The new currency was approved, and stateless crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin simultaneously banned, by Ecuador's National Assembly last month.http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_ECUADOR_DIGITAL_MONEY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-08-29-08-28-04-----------------------------------------------------------
That's socialism for you: ban what is free and open and make it closed and not free...