South Korea’s capital, Seoul, may become one of the world’s largest cities to officially adopt its own cryptocurrency.

The proposal to create the “S-coin” was revealed by Park Won-soon, the city's mayor, who said it could be used as a payment mechanism to fund public welfare programmes or to pay private contractors.

“Seoul is one of the cities that are leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” Mr Park told CoinDesk Korea, according to a translation in the Korea Times. “So it’s natural to study and invest in new technologies such as blockchain.”

Mr Park, who will stand for re-election in June, said the cryptocurrency, if launched, could also be used as a payment tool in city-funded welfare programmes for young jobseekers and environmental protection, and when paying for construction projects.

He said the city would release a regulatory guideline, along with a “blockchain master plan” by the end of April.