Today, the Bank of Lithuania announced its blockchain-based digital collector’s coin (LBCoin) entered the final testing phase and would be issued in July.
Latelast year, the central bank announced plans for theLBCoinin celebration of the anniversary of Lithuania’s independence onFebruary 16, 1918. The digital coin features the Act of Independenceand its 20 signatories.
Concerningthe development of the digital collector’s item, the central bankhas completed user testing of the online shop where LBCoin will besold. Additionally, it covered third-party services such as Know YourCustomer (KYC) and payment collection.
“LBCOINis based on innovative and sophisticated solutions. Therefore, it hasto be tested at various angles, for example, in terms offunctionality, personal data protection and resilience to cyberrisks,” said Pavel Lipnevic, manager of the LBCOIN project at theBank of Lithuania.
“Duringthis final phase, the Bank of Lithuania has certainly gained someextremely valuable experience and insights.”
Theinitiative was launched in part to develop blockchain skills withinthe bank, including exploring digital currencies. Last year, thecentral bank publisheda paper reviewingcentral bank digital currency (CBDC) initiatives across the world.
Thecentral bank will issue 24,000 LBCoins, which will be availablethrough an e-shop. The 20 signatories will be divided into sixcategories depending on their occupation, with 4,000 tokens allottedto each group. A collector who manages to get all six digital tokenswill then be able to exchange them for a silver collector coin whichis not available for sale. Only 4,000 physical silver coins will beminted.
Thedigital coin is underpinned by NEM blockchain, which is currently inuse for cryptocurrency transactions. Users can store, gift, andexchange the collector’s item through a public NEM wallet.
TheBank of Lithuania also operates a blockchain sandbox, and IBMPoland and Tieto Lithuania aredeveloping LBChain for the central bank. The two companies workedseparately on the project producingsolutions for Hyperledger Fabric and Corda.
Earlierthis week, LEDGER Insights reported that ITconsultancy BearingPoint usedLBChain to develop a blockchain prototype for regulatory reporting oftransactions.
