www.straight.com/life/696116/cryptocurrencies-change-arise-bc
Cryptocurrencies for change arise in B.C.
Inspired by Bitcoin, companies develop [b][color=#FF0000]CryptoAid[/color][/b], GENERcoin, and Kailakoin
magine a currency in which every time coins are minted, some of them go to “noble causes”. That’s the vision of[b] Paul Dickson, president and CEO of Newnote Financial Corporation[/b]
The Vancouver-based company is developing a digital currency called CryptoAid, which will be “mined” into existence by computers. Much like Bitcoin, the CryptoAid network will reward miners for their services by paying them new coins.
The difference is, Dickson told the Georgia Straight, that CryptoAid will automatically allocate a random portion—between 20 percent and 50 percent—of each reward to a “manifest list of beneficiaries”. Users of the cryptocurrency, expected to be released in the next two months, will determine these nonprofit causes by online voting.
“I think that there’s a great demand for a charity coin like this,” Dickson said by phone from his downtown office. “I really think people are going to dig it when they see the democratic voting process of choosing the causes. I mean, the whole picture for this creates a really unique opportunity for people in need all over the world.”
Newnote, Canada’s first publicly traded Bitcoin company, is one out of a handful of British Columbia–based firms creating cryptocurrencies, some of which have been designed with social or environmental goals in mind.
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Newnote’s CryptoAid is also a Litecoin fork. A maximum of 100 million coins will be mined over 20 years. Newnote plans to list the altcoin on its forthcoming Puretrade exchange so users can trade it for Bitcoin and vice versa.
While CryptoAid was conceived as a philanthropic endeavour, Newnote earns revenue by making cryptocurrencies for businesses. In early July, Newnote helped Las Vegas–based Anthem Vault launch INNCoin, a gold-backed altcoin.
Dickson envisions breweries and musicians issuing cryptocurrencies that create a “viral presence” and can be redeemed for merchandise.
“I believe that it makes an excellent rewards program for, you know, people under 30 at the moment,” Dickson said. “Because we’re all early adopters here, right? This is a forward-looking project that we’re doing here, and we’ve received an enormous amount of interest from companies that are inquiring about how this all works and how they can do it.”