Lithuania's central bank is releasing blockchain-based digital collector coin
The Bank of Lithuania, the country’s central bank, is set to issue coin — its blockchain-based digital collector coin — on July 23.
consists of six digital tokens and one physical silver collector coin, meaning users who purchase coin would first receive a set of six digital tokens, which can then be exchanged for a physical silver collector coin.
Each digital token features one of 20 signatories of Lithuania's Act of Independence, and the physical silver collector coin resembles a credit card, with a denomination of €19.18 — the year when the Act was signed by 20 signatories (priests, presidents, diplomats, industrialists, academics and municipal servants).
The Bank of Lithuania will issue a total of 4,000 LBCOINs, i.e. 24,000 digital tokens and 4,000 physical collector coins. One LBCOIN is priced at 99 euros (~$110).
Not a CBDC
To be sure, LBCOIN is not a central bank digital currency (CBDC), but rather will help the bank explore CBDCs if the project succeeds.
“LBCOIN is an important experiment in exploring the potential of central bank digital currencies (CBDC),” said Marius Jurgilas, member of the board of the Bank of Lithuania.
Notably, it is not a legal tender and is intended just for collection, said the central bank.
The whole LBCOIN project will get closed in the next 30 months, meaning no digital tokens will be issued and no physical silver coins can get redeemed thereafter.
The Bank of Lithuania also operates a blockchain-based sandbox called LBChain to help fintech startups carry out blockchain research, develop their blockchain-based services, and test them in financial institutions.