As reported by Reuters on Thursday morning, Tierra Viva (“Alive Earth”), a Colombian longhorn beetle exporter based in Tunja, has been developing its own cryptocurrency to avoid high commission costs on international sales. According to the point of sale, the Hercules, Neptunus and elephant species of beetles that Tierra Viva exports have a retail price of USD 300 a pair in Tokyo. The beetle species are popular with Japanese schoolchildren and collectors.
Carmelo Campos, Tierra Viva’s chief programmer said the following in an interview with Reuters:
“It is an alternative to be able to export the beetles to Japan or to any other part of the world and to be able to use it as a payment method.”
Tierra Viva’s digital currency is called Kumushicoin (KTV), in honor of the native name of the Japanese rhinoceros beetle, the Kabutomushi. As discussed in their white paper, Tierra Viva’s main business activity before launching ATV was the transformation of organic solid waste with beetles that it had raised.
On August 24, 2019, the company developed Kumishicoin with its own blockchain with an initial total offering of 20,000,000 KTV. The network operates on a hybrid consensus consisting of proof-of-stake and proof-of-work mechanisms. However, only creators are entitled to block rewards, and miners can only receive transaction fees as consideration for their efforts. Tierra Viva claims that this configuration is designed to discourage mining due to its environmental impact.
According to CoinGecko, Kumishicoin can only be traded on the CREX24 exchange, which does not support US clients. Each KTV is currently worth $ 1.80. Reuters reported that around 220 retail businesses in Tunja currently accept the KTV token as payment.
Colombia is emerging as a local hub for cryptocurrency adoption. In September, the country invested more than $ 30,000 in developing a gamified app that simulates cryptocurrency and stock trading for young students. Earlier this year, Colombia’s oldest commercial bank began exploring cryptocurrency-related services.
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