SINGAPORE - Local bike-sharing operator oBike is set to introduce its own cryptocurrency called oCoins next year.

In a statement on Tuesday (Dec 26), oBike announced that it will be partnering blockchain platform Tron to officially launch oCoins in the first quarter of 2018. A blockchain is a digitised, decentralised, public ledger of all cryptocurrency transactions.

"In a world's first of its kind, users will soon be able to ride and earn, thanks to the new partnership," it said.

oBike users will be able to pay for their rides and top up their oBike wallets using oCoins, the statement said.

oCoins can also be used to buy online content or be used on any application that is on Tron's platform.

This includes audio content community Peiwo and popular live-streaming app Uplive.

Users can generate oCoins when they use oBikes, with more coins earned the longer they ride.

Tron is a decentralised online content entertainment ecosystem.

Its cryptocurrency, called Tronix, or TRX for short, is ranked 18th worldwide in the list of cryptocurrencies, according to the statement.

oBike's co-founder and chief marketing officer Edward Chen said that the company is thrilled to announce its partnership with Tron.

"As a tech company, we are dedicated to bringing better value and benefits to our users through constant innovation and mutually beneficial partnerships," he said.

He added that he is confident oCoins will be "an attractive proposition for users to continue riding oBike in more ways than one".

Similarly, Tron's founder Justin Sun said that he is looking forward to a fruitful partnership and that he is certain the Tron ecosystem would appeal to oBike users.

TRX has a market capitalisation of US$2.6 billion (S$3.5 billion) and is currently trading at 4 US cents.