Private blockchains seem to be all the rage as of late. Mere weeks ago, JP Morgan Chase launched a private version of crypto network Ethereum, Quorum, to support the fittingly-titled “JPM Coin.” And over the past year or longer, technology heavyweight IBM has built an array of ‘decentralized’ ledgers for corporations with Stellar’s technology.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank are purportedly joining the bandwagon with a newfangled venture. The funny thing is, though, the IMF’s chairwoman, Christine Lagarde, bashed traditional digital assets, primarily Bitcoin, just the other day.
Meet “Learning Coin”
The project is called Learning Coin, yeah you read that right. According to a recent report from the Financial Times, the aforementioned two economic powerhouses have launched a “quasi-cryptocurrency” to garner more knowledge of blockchain technologies and their real-world applications.
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For now (and likely, hopefully, for the rest of all eternity), Learning Coin will only be available within the walls of the IMF and the World Bank. In a statement, the IMF explained that this crypto asset, if you can even call it that, will give its staff a better understanding of the goods, smart contracts and transparency, and bads, such as money laundering, of this technology.
The two Washington, D.C.-based entities look to accomplish this by creating “use-cases” for Learning Coin. Ideas proposed include giving their staff a reward in the ‘cryptocurrency’, which could be redeemed for “some kind of rewards” at a later date, for surmounting certain educational milestones.
Lagarde: Bitcoin, (Actual) Cryptocurrencies Are Shaking The System
As aforementioned, this odd foray of sorts comes just after Lagarde expressed her distaste towards true, decentralized cryptocurrencies in a recent segment with CNBC. As reported by NewsBTC previously, the IMF General Manager told the business news outlet that “anything that is using distributed ledger technology,” primarily crypto assets and their derivatives, are “clearly shaking the system.”
Lagarde continued that while she welcomes innovation, especially due to the transparency, cost-saving, and efficiency upside that this advancement presents, Bitcoin and its peers could “shake the system so much that we could lose stability.”
Thus, it could be postulated that the IMF’s Learning Coin is a way in which the entity can look into how to restrict distributed digital assets and centralize blockchain, rather than giving consumers freedom through Bitcoin. As Lagarde said in regards to fintech companies: “they will have to be held accountable so that they can be fully trusted.”
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