Tuesday, August 22, 2017

"Estonia could be the first country to do its own initial coin offering"

As noted in the intro to 2013's "The World is Going Artisanal-- Caffeine: The Magazine":
It was in 2005 that I first started hearing normally sober and reliable people discuss the economy in terms that, loosely translated, said: Everyone will make their fortune by swapping real estate and selling each other "Tall half-skinny half-1 percent extra hot split quad shot lattes with whip"....
It appears I'll have to add ICO's to the equation: "In the future everyone will make their fortune by selling coffee to each other, trading real estate back and forth and buying each other's crypto"

From City AM:

Estonia proposes estcoin, a government backed cryptocurrency, issued via an initial coin offering (ICO) after e-residency success
Estonia is living up to its digital reputation and setting tongues wagging with its latest idea: its very own digital currency issued via an initial coin offering (ICO).

The buzz word of the moment in the heady world of cyptocurrencies, ICOs, are being used to raise cash via a digital token that's issued to investors.

What investors get back in return depends what the company offers, much like crowdfunding, but can be some sort of stake in the company or merely being able to use the blockchain-based software it's building.

But what's on offer in a potential ICO of a nation state? That's exactly what Estonia wants to work out.
The head of its innovative e-residency programme has said the country is considering what the issuance of "estcoin", the country's very own digital currency, would look like.

In a blog post, Kaspar Korjus said: "Estcoins could be managed by the Republic of Estonia, but accessed by anyone in the world through its e-Residency programme and launched through an Initial Coin Offering (ICO)."

And the man behind the most succesful ICO to date which kicked off the trend is involved. Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, (now the second most valuable cryptocurrency in the world) is offering his feedback on the project and suggest it could be a way for the country to attract international investment....MORE