Blockchain company Colu will launch Liverpool's local digital currency in March next year, which can be used at local merchants

Israeli blockchain startup Colu and Independent Liverpool have partnered to issue a digital currency for travelers in the United Kingdom.

In 2013, Oliver Press and David Williams co-founded Independent Liverpool to bring local businesses together. Restaurants, bars, cafes, clothing stores and other professional service providers and businesses have joined Independent Liverpool in the hope of better promoting their business.

Liverpool local pound

The Independent Liverpool website provides information on many businesses. Through this platform, British travelers can check information on local businesses and enjoy special discounts. The association's members started with only one small coffee shop, and now have grown to hundreds of businesses.

Through this cooperation, Colu plans to expand their services from Israel to Liverpool using digital currency. In fact, the digital currency that Colu is about to launch can be used in parallel with the British pound and has the same value as the British pound. The full name of this digital currency is利物浦本土英镑(hereinafter referred to as LLP).

Amos Meiri, CEO of Colu, is very optimistic about LLP because the concept of local digital currency is not new to the UK. Many non-profit organizations in the UK have tried to deploy digital currency, but due to the lack of understanding of the concept and the vague development direction, the development and popularization of digital currency have been slowed down. Colu is different, their investors are real, so Meiri is confident that they can witness the development of local digital currency in the UK.

Meiri said:

Local currencies are not a new concept, especially for the UK. However, the concept has been limited in scope and development because the projects have been led by non-profit volunteers. We are an ambitious startup with investor support.

Advantages and disadvantages analysis

Meiri said Colu’s digital currency is beneficial to users. By using an LLP they are able to enjoy special discounts and establish direct links with merchants in Independent Liverpool.

However, once users want to convert LLP into cash, they will need to pay a 5% handling fee. In other words, LLP is different from traditional digital currencies and cannot be traded on exchanges. In addition, the value of LLP is fixed and directly linked to the British pound, so it cannot be considered an independent digital currency.

In addition, Colu will monitor the user's transaction history and provide the relevant data to local merchants. In essence, the user's transaction history is just an advertising tool, and merchants only need to pay £25 per year to obtain the transaction history.

Meiri said:

The advantage of LLP is that it can improve the utilization rate of users' funds. At the same time, they can also establish connections with the local community. We hope to encourage users to use products from local suppliers.

The connection with the local community was not enough to convince users to use a digital currency that makes money by selling user data and, more importantly, cannot be traded on exchanges such as Poloniex.