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Canadian Mint To Create Digital Currency
Oldcynic writes "The Canadian mint has allowed 500 developers to enter a contest to create a new digital currency. The currency would allow micro payments using electronic devices. From the article: 'Less than a week after the government announced the penny’s impending death, the Mint quietly unveiled its digital currency called MintChip.
Still in the research and development phase, MintChip will ultimately let people pay each other directly using smartphones, USB sticks, computers, tablets and clouds. The digital currency will be anonymous and good for small transactions — just like cash, the Mint says.
To make sure its technology meets the gold standard in a world where digital transactions are gaining steam, the Mint is holding a contest for software developers to create applications using the MintChip.'" It looks like the Canadian Mint might have a bit of Sweden envy.
As someone from the US, it is always good to hear stuff about Canada. Why? A tinge of envy:
Decent health care.
The fact that an illness won't swipe your nest egg.
The fact that you won't face life in prison for possessing a joint or peeing on a fence.
The fact that your kids won't wind up in jail (with a permanent criminal record) because they backtalked a teacher.
The fact that one doesn't have to carry a firearm in Canada everywhere one goes due to major swaths of the country belong to gangs or cartels.
The fact that Canada cities are clean and relatively crime-free. In the US, you either live in the suburbs or in a gated community in order for your kids not to be in the obituary.
The fact that Canada has an actual functioning school system that teaches more than to be docile consumers.
The fact that the food supply actually is monitored rather than depending on the word of the lowest bidding Chinese importers.