One of the world’s biggest car manufacturers, Jaguar Land Rover, has made a shock announcement, confirming the development of ‘smart wallet’ in-vehicle software.

The technology will allow drivers to earn cryptocurrency when they share data on things such as traffic congestion, road hazards, road closures, and emergency incidents.

The company says cryptocurrency could also be earned if the vehicle takes part in ride-sharing.

Testing on the smart wallet software is currently underway in the UK.

It’s understood the Jaguar F-PACE and Range Rover Velar are the first vehicles to have been equipped with the smart wallet during the trial.

IOTA cryptocurrency at forefront

The technology is being developed in partnership with IOTA – the sole cryptocurrency that will be used to reward drivers.

IOTA currently trades just above 25 US cents.

“The smart wallet technology can be easily adapted into all new vehicles,” said IOTA co-founder, Dominik Schiener.

Mr. Schiener told Reuters he believes IOTA is on track to becoming the cryptocurrency of choice for all car manufacturers.

“IOTA wants to enable interoperability with all these different players.

“So there is no Jaguar coin, no BMW coin, but one universal token for this machine economy.”

Jaguar Land Rover has almost 50,000 employees across the globe and last year recorded revenues of US$25.8 billion.

No time-frame has been given for a commercial roll-out of the cryptocurrency software.

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