Konya, a city in the Central Anatolia region of Turkey, is taking progressive steps towards issuing its native cryptocurrency. The news was first reported by the Turkish arm of industry news source BeInCrypto BeInCrypto that city mayor Uğur İbrahim Altay has confirmed the city’s intent, adding that the city council; has sanctioned the first steps towards what it dubbed the “City Coin” cryptocurrency project.

A Digital Asset for Smoother Government Operations

The news medium hinted that the asset might launch later this year, when the city will host the Smart Cities and Municipalities Congress and Exhibition. The event has been earmarked to come with an important blockchain-related announcement, and many believe that the crypto project will take that place.

Success with this project will make Konya, one of the first regions in the world to have its own cryptocurrency. The city council believes that a cryptocurrency will help make the municipality conduct its duties more seamlessly, including but not limited to its ability to collect tax payments.

Fascinating to see that Turkey, Brazil, and Colombia top the charts in crypto adoption. It seems there's tons of opportunity for DeFi to expand overseas.@fidelitas_lex, a Social Trader, is a prime example of a trader who has a great Turkish-based following. pic.twitter.com/GyZLlPDyyG — Felix {Setoshi} Feng (@felix2feng) January 17, 2020

Although the details of the crypto project are still sparse, the news medium added that more details are expected to come to light in the build-up to the conference to be held later this year.

Turkey has been making significant moves towards cryptocurrencies. Early in the year, local news medium Hurriyet reported that the Capital Markets Board of Turkey (CMB), the country’s securities market regulatory, is working on a guideline to audit and oversee the country’s crypto market.

As the news source explained, authorities have expressed concerns over investor protection viz a viz the crypto space. Thus, the government has ordered the CMB to develop a regulatory framework for the space. Barring any delays, the agency could regulate the Turkish crypto market before the year runs out.

Africa’s Digital City

As stated earlier, the city is ginning to be one of the first regions in the world to develop a native cryptocurrency. However, it’s not the most high-profile one; most likely, that title belongs to China. Ever since President Xi Jinping gave his endorsement of blockchain technology in October last year, blockchain patents and applications across the country have skyrocketed in number. Sources have forecasted that China’s cryptocurrency could launch this year.

Akon is building a city built around his crypto coin AKoin? https://t.co/PhXAR6D03V — Ken Yeung (@thekenyeung) January 18, 2020

Also, Senegal could have a crypto-powered settlement soon. Akon, the Grammy-winning recording artist, and businessman, announced earlier this week that he had finalized the agreement for his AKON CITY project in his home country. Reports of the city were first aired last year, when the singer and his planning committee billed it as a “100% crypto-based city with Akoin (its native digital asset) as the center of transactional life.”

The settlement is set to become the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified city in Senegal, and will be set on a 2,000-acre plot of land gifted to the singer by the Senegalese president.

The singer also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with SAPCO, the country’s tourism department, last week to begin work on the settlement. In a November 2019 interview with Power 106, he added that construction on the city had started last March, and is set to run through at least 2025.