Estonia may soon launch its own national crypto token. In this way, the Baltic nation would eventually become the first country with its own dedicated digital currency.
Estonia is the first country to offer an e-Residency program, a government-issued digital ID that is currently available to anyone in the world. The managing director of the e-Residency initiative, Kaspar Korjus, comments that the next step might be the launch of Estonia`s own crypto token named “estcoin”.
In a blog post, Korjus explains that the crypto tokens would be launched with an Initial Coin Offering (ICO). Besides, he notes the different ways in which the cryptocurrency might be used.
To start with, Korjus speaks of a “community estcoin” that might support the country`s goal to become a “digital nation”. The idea is to prompt people to “apply for and make greater use of e-Residency.” The initiative foresees reward schemes that pay out in estcoins, as well as encouraging investors and entrepreneurs to use the e-Residency service as a platform for ICO activity.
Secondly, the token could be used by the government to issue secure digital identities. According to Korjus, this would mean that the so-called estcoins would be deployed as “blockchain-based tokens used for activities within our digital society, such as digitally signing documents, logging into services or enforcing smart contracts.“ Thus, the “identity estcoins” would contribute to the maintenance of the network, as he elaborates.
Thirdly, it is speculated that the token would be pegged to the price of the euro. This seems to be the most controversial option.The president of the European Central Bank Mario Draghi criticized the idea, stating that the euro was the only valid money in the euro area. In September this year, he told Reuters that “no member state can introduce its own currency”.
Korjus has reportedly said that Estonia is carefully reading and listening to feedback from around the world. As a result, they hope to gain a better understanding of how estcoin could be structured, as well as why/whether people would want to hold the crypto token.