DISCUSSION PAPER_No.6(17-004) “Blockchain-Based Digital Currencies for Community Building”

DISCUSSION PAPER No.6(17-004)

“Blockchain-Based Digital Currencies for Community Building”

Soichiro Takagi(Associate Professor, Center for Global Communications, International University of Japan)

Hideyuki Tanaka(Professor, Interfaculty Initiative in Information Studies / Graduate School of Interdisciplinary Information Studies, The University of Tokyo)

Makoto Takemiya(Co-CEO, Soramitsu Co., Ltd.)

Yasushi Fujii(Associate Professor, University Business Innovation Center, The University of Aizu)

Abstract

Blockchain has recently become the center of attention as a key technological tool to impact a broad range of organizations and affect the overall economy. Blockchain technology, also referred to as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT), was initially created as the platform technology that enables Bitcoin that are issued and maintained by anonymous participants around the world. Reacting to the wider acceptance of digital currencies in the private sector, such as Bitcoin, there is a growing interest in the wider use of similar digital currencies in a different context. For example, central banks in countries such as the United Kingdom, Sweden, Cambodia, and Canada are reported to be considering their own digital currencies. There is also a trial to use digital currencies to enable payments for the Internet-of-Things, such as automobiles and solar cells. Some start-up companies use digital currencies to collect investments. Issuance of digital currencies for a variety of contexts and purposes could change how the economy works. This paper provides a conceptual framework and technological implementation of a digital currency for community vitalization and reports the results of a Proof-of-Concept using a new local currency, “Moeka.”

Keyword

Digital Currency, Blockchain, Bitcoin, Distributed Ledger

June 2017