Ecuador may ditch dollar with world’s first govt-issued digital currency

[Judi Lynn]

1. Ecuador heralds digital currency to start before year end

Ecuador heralds digital currency to start before year end
Date 30.08.2014

Ecuador has announced it plans to start circulating what it calls the world's first digital currency in December. It also claims it has options for developing its new oil refinery which do not depend on China.

Financial analysts have suggested the introduction of the new electronic currency in Ecuador could be used to increase the money supply and devalue US dollar holdings, a first step to abandoning the US dollar as its currency.

The new currency was approved, and stateless crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin simultaneously banned, by Ecuador's National Assembly last month.

The electronic currency is to exist in tandem with the US dollar and to be backed by "liquid assets," according to Deputy Central Bank director Gustavo Solorzano. Officials said it would be geared towards the 2.8 million Ecuadoreans too poor to afford a traditional bank account.

Central Bank officials said on Friday the currency does not have a name and officials would not disclose technical details. The amount of the new currency created would depend on demand, they said. President Rafael Correa has denied there is any plan to replace the US dollar, which Ecuador set as its currency in 2000 after a crippling banking crisis.

More:
http://www.dw.de/ecuador-heralds-digital-currency-to-start-before-year-end/a-17890537?maca=en-rss-en-bus-2091-rdf