Marshall Islands to Build Its Digital Currency on Algorand Blockchain

The Marshallese sovereign (SOV), the national digital currency of the Marshall Islands, will be built using the Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned.) In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tampe Read this Term of Algorand.

According to Monday's announcement, SFB Technologies, the appointed organizer for the Marshallese sovereign initiative, chose the Algorand protocol for its speed, Scalability Scalability Scalability is a term that describes the constraints of a network via hash rates to meet increased demand. In the context of Bitcoin, scalability reflects the issue in which a limited rate can process transactions adequately.Blocks within the Bitcoin blockchain are limited in both size and frequency. The overall transaction processing capacity of the network is dictated by the average block creation time of 10 minutes as well as a block size limit of 1 megabyte. Consequently, this leads to pain Scalability is a term that describes the constraints of a network via hash rates to meet increased demand. In the context of Bitcoin, scalability reflects the issue in which a limited rate can process transactions adequately.Blocks within the Bitcoin blockchain are limited in both size and frequency. The overall transaction processing capacity of the network is dictated by the average block creation time of 10 minutes as well as a block size limit of 1 megabyte. Consequently, this leads to pain Read this Term, and security.

The company is also bullish on Algorand's ability to effectively implement required compliance controls and the transaction finality needed for a national currency.

"Algorand was selected after extensive market research among the leading protocol options," Jim Wagner, co-founder and CTO of SFB Technologies, said. "The company has already powered several mainstream use cases and thanks to its unique features the platform has the functionality required to issue, manage and distribute the SOV on a global level. This partnership ensures that the SOV will be built on a scalable and secure platform."

A nation-backed digital currency

The Marshall Islands first revealed its plans to develop a digital currency last September and will circulate it alongside the US dollar.

SFB Technologies was then hired to build the necessary blockchain infrastructure for the digital currency.

As detailed earlier, the island-nation has capped the SOV supply at 24 million tokens in order to prevent inflation along with a 4 percent algorithmic annual growth. Forty percent of the total supply will be made available globally for investment.

"The Marshall Island's vision for global participation and inclusion in an open financial system by harnessing the benefits of blockchain technology is aligned with a truly global and decentralized society that we believe is made possible with our technology," Silvio Micali, founder of Algorand, said.

Along with the Marshall Islands, the British Virgin Islands is also developing a USD-pegged digital currency.

"I am excited about the technological partnership with Algorand. With it, a strong alliance is forming to develop the SOV project. This is another milestone towards developing the Marshall Islands financial services industry," Kenneth Kedi, speaker of the Marshallese Parliament, added.