If everything goes according to the plans of the Scottish National Party, Scotland may soon have its own digital currency. The grand plan was recently unveiled by George Kerevan, Member of Parliament from the Scottish National Party while speaking on policy agenda at the SNP conference held in Aberdeen.
George Kerevan said that Scotland should start working on developing ScotPound, a regional digital currency which can work along with the traditional fiat, Pound Sterling. The call to develop their own digital currency comes as the country is engaged in an independence debate with the United Kingdom.
Earlier, the Bank of England had also proposed few feature changes to the economic ecosystem that involved usage of digital currency to reduce the cost of operation of central bank and other banking operations. The Bank of England proposed this suggestion while discussing about the possibility of cutting the current interest rate close to zero in order to maintain a stable economy.
While George Kerevan was not too clear about the specifics, his general idea about having a ScotPound and its advantages on the country’s economy is not lost. During the speech, he also told that he doesn’t have much idea about a clear alternative, but going by the way the world took to bitcoin, it won’t be hard to get people to adopt to a new digital currency once it is out there.
He also referred to a proposal by the New Economics Foundation on ScotPound and how its adoption can be encouraged by offering a dividend of 250 pounds to each citizen whose name is in the electoral register as soon as they turn 16. By doing so, the total digital money in circulation will increase every year by at least 15 million pounds.
Introduction of ScotPound will also offer an alternative currency to the Scots in the event of Scotland gaining independence, separating from the United Kingdom
Image: The Daily Mash