Iceland residents started distributing Auroracoin cryptocurrency



    At midnight on March 25, 2014, the most unusual experiment on “financial stimulation” of the economy of a particular country began. As part of the Airdrop operation , every citizen of Iceland has the right to receive 31.8 AUR coins - and do whatever they want with them. At the current rate, this is approximately $ 218.

    Auroracoin digital cryptocurrency is based on Litecoin, which, in turn, uses the Bitcoin protocol. A feature of the Icelandic experiment is the premining of 50% of the coins that are immediately distributed to the entire population.

    The first stage of the distribution of coins will last four months. Each applicant will receive 31.8 AUR. In the second stage (another four months), unclaimed coins will again be divided between 330 thousand inhabitants - and everyone can again claim their share. The third stage is another four months, the division of coins according to the same algorithm. At the final stage, unclaimed coins from the first half are destroyed. The remaining 50% will be allocated for charitable or other purposes, as the citizens themselves decide in a democratic vote.

    The plan is that over the year, people will gradually master the Auroracoin cryptocurrency and begin to use it in everyday life. Theoretically, the liberalization of foreign exchange control should increase the economic activity of the population. Ultimately, this will help the country out of the crisis. But the most important thing is that international money transfers, which are now very difficult after the introduction of tight currency regulation after the 2008 crisis, will be facilitated.

    A bit of history. Five years ago, the debt pyramid collapsed by private Icelandic banks. They attracted funds from customers from all over the world. In a few years, bank assets grew to 700% of national GDP, and the country's economy flourished: in 2007, the UN recognized Iceland as the best country in the world to live. However, at the very beginning of the global financial crisis, the pyramid collapsed: foreign customers began to withdraw funds. Icelandic banks unanimously defaulted, and the government refused to take on private bank liabilities to foreign investors and severely restricted international money transfers. The appearance of Auroracoin should help solve this problem at least at a small household level, for small transfers.

    The author of the experiment is a kind of Icelandic Satoshi, someone under the pseudonym Baldur Frigyar Odsson (Baldur Friggjar Óðinsson). He explains that the goal of Auroracoin is “to create an alternative to the national currency krone, which is forced to use under pain of imprisonment” (quoted from an interview with WSJ ).

    2.59% of the total number of coins issued in Iceland during the day of the “scatter of money”, and the AUR rate fell by half. The beginning, frankly, is not very optimistic. But let's see what happens next. If Icelanders really begin to use cryptocurrency for settlements in everyday life, they can become a model for the same experiments in other countries. What can I say, even if the experiment is unsuccessful, other countries will still try to repeat it (taking into account the shortcomings). For example, in April, Spanish citizens will start issuing Spaincoin coins .

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