AFP, Geneva :
A new virtual currency launched Tuesday aims to rival industry leader bitcoin by pegging its value to hard oil assets, a first in the rapidly growing digital money sector.
The currency called “bilur” and created by London-based financial services company R Fintech uses the technology pioneered by bitcoin, while trying to offer an alternative for those weary of the wild fluctuations that have plagued digital currencies.
“This is the first crypto-currency with a real value”, R Fintech Ignacio M.
Ozcariz chief executive told reporters in Geneva.
To start, the company has valued 1 bilur as equivalent to 6.5 barrels of brent crude oil, making it an asset worth $356 (326 euros).
Texas-based oil company Hockley has initially set aside 1 million barrels of crude as collateral to underpin the currency but has told R Fintech it can ramp up if bilur becomes popular.
Like bitcoin, bilur is run with so-called blockchain technology, where encrypted digital coins are created by supercomputers, regulated and controlled by a community of users who try to guard against counterfeiting.
Bitcoin was the world’s top performing currency in 2016 and continues to hover around record highs of $1400, after being worth just a few cents when it launched in 2009.
A new virtual currency launched Tuesday aims to rival industry leader bitcoin by pegging its value to hard oil assets, a first in the rapidly growing digital money sector.
The currency called “bilur” and created by London-based financial services company R Fintech uses the technology pioneered by bitcoin, while trying to offer an alternative for those weary of the wild fluctuations that have plagued digital currencies.
“This is the first crypto-currency with a real value”, R Fintech Ignacio M.
Ozcariz chief executive told reporters in Geneva.
To start, the company has valued 1 bilur as equivalent to 6.5 barrels of brent crude oil, making it an asset worth $356 (326 euros).
Texas-based oil company Hockley has initially set aside 1 million barrels of crude as collateral to underpin the currency but has told R Fintech it can ramp up if bilur becomes popular.
Like bitcoin, bilur is run with so-called blockchain technology, where encrypted digital coins are created by supercomputers, regulated and controlled by a community of users who try to guard against counterfeiting.
Bitcoin was the world’s top performing currency in 2016 and continues to hover around record highs of $1400, after being worth just a few cents when it launched in 2009.
