Over the last couple of years, numerous governments and financial institutions have experimented with blockchain technology, granted its increasing popularity. Now, recent reports indicate that in an attempt to learn more about how blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies work, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank have launched an educational blockchain-based token. The coin will be used by members of the organization to better understand the particularities of blockchain technology, and help develop a complete knowledge base.
It is important to keep in mind that the educational coin will run on a private blockchain network, which is under the control of the IMF and the World Bank. Additionally, the token will not have any monetary value and will not be supported by any cryptocurrency exchange.
In a recent press statement related to the project, the IMF mentioned: “The development of crypto-assets and distributed ledger technology is evolving rapidly, as is the amount of information surrounding it. This is forcing central banks, regulators and financial institutions to recognize a growing knowledge gap between the legislators, policymakers, economists and the technology.”
To test out potential blockchain
functionalities, the coin will be used to ‘pay’ for sharing content across the
two organizations. Additionally, IMF and World Bank staff will receive coin
bounties when they manage to achieve some of the milestones featured in the educational
app. It is expected that in the near future, staff will be able to exchange
their coins for rewards.
The educational effort is
certainly praise-worthy, granted that it is essential for regulators, banks and
financial institutions to have solid training in cryptocurrencies and
blockchain technology. You can only learn so much by reading about
cryptocurrencies and blockchain online. Actual, hands-on experience is bound to
leave a lasting impression. After all, if organizations like these are left
untrained and unprepared for a blockchain-based future, the worldwide financial
system would likely run into a lot of trouble.
A couple of months ago, the chief of the IMF, Christine Lagarde, urged the financial market to further explore the potential of central bank-backed digital currencies, and acknowledged that digital cash is the future of finance. Based on that comment and this story, we are hopeful that the IMF and World Bank will fulfil their purpose of creating a solid knowledge base on blockchain technology and digital currencies for their staff. Due to the worldwide influence of the two organizations, blockchain training is essential for smarter policies, encouraging innovation, and incentivising the right projects.
Featured Image via BigStock.
