Various countries around the world are contemplating issuing their own virtual currency. Most of these plans are put on ice, for the time being. Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, is taking a different approach. According to mayor Park Won-soon, the creation of the S-Coin is imminent.

The Concept of S-Coin

When a city decides to issue its own “native currency”, there are a lot of questions waiting to be answered. In the case of S-Coin, the currency will be used for various concepts throughout Seoul. First of all, the new coin will be used to pay for public transportation. It is also a payment method for city-funded programs and environmental improvements.

This draws some similarities to how Bitcoin is used in Zug. Even so, S-Coin will be controlled by the city council of Seoul, rather than being a decentralized cryptocurrency. Technical specifications of S-Coin remain difficult to come by as of right now. It remains unclear which blockchain will be used to issue this currency or how high the total supply will be.

Local sources report S-Coin will be introduced at some point in April of 2018. The upcoming launch of this currency will undoubtedly attract a lot of attention. In conjunction with S-Coin, the city of Seoul also wants to set up a fund to support local blockchain projects. This increased focus on newer technologies appears to be of great interest to mayor Won-soon as well.

Is There an Impact on Bitcoin?

Given South Korea’s importance in the world of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, the launch of S-Coin is rather intriguing. These currencies will not be competing with one another by the look of things. S-Coin is limited in functionality to Seoul, whereas Bitcoin use spans South Korea in its entirety. Both forms of value can easily co-exist in the capital city.

All of this further confirms South Korea is preparing for positive cryptocurrency and blockchain regulation. With the government leaning toward introducing a new taxation framework for these currencies, Bitcoin and altcoins continue to gain legitimacy. These new taxation guidelines will go into effect in June of 2018.

It is not the first time a city decides to issue its own native currency. In the UK, the city of Hull recently launched HullCoin. It seems this concepts is gaining more and more traction, which is not necessarily a bad thing. Initiatives like these help people get more acquainted with the concept of digital currencies. In the long run, it may very well pave the way for greater global cryptocurrency adoption.

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