Blockchain startup Colu integrates colored coins and lightning network protocols to issue UK-based digital currency next month

Colu, a cryptocurrency startup based in Tel Aviv, Israel, recently announced that it will issue two digital currencies that can be used in the UK in December -卡姆登币（Camden Pound） and利物浦币（Liverpool Pound） . These two coins are the product of combining the concepts of colored coins and the lightning protocol.

These two coins are not the first local digital currencies issued by Colu. At present, Colu's local cryptocurrency projects have been successfully launched in Barbados (a Latin American country), Brazil, Florence and the Israeli town of Jaffa.

Colu's Goal

Colu's approach to issuing digital currencies in specific regions is to stimulate the local economy, create a local P2P payment network, and ultimately realize a new digital economy. Through these dedicated local digital currencies, Colu hopes to build a close-knit community. Users can directly use these cryptocurrencies to shop locally, which will not only promote the development of local businesses, but also create a more inclusive economic environment.

The high volatility of Bitcoin prices is a major challenge for it to go mainstream. However, the digital currencies issued by Colu will not have similar problems because these digital currencies incorporate the concept of colored coins and have a direct link to legal tender. Take Camden Dollar and Liverpool Dollar, for example, these two currencies are directly linked to the British pound.

Digital Pound

(Amos Meiri, CEO of Colu)

Colu CEO Amos Meiri hopes to drive businesses and consumers to create a prosperous local economy, and Camden and Liverpool in the UK are his next target markets.

Our market focus is currently in the UK. Starting next month, we will develop two economies, one in Liverpool and the other in Camden. Cryptocurrency technology makes it possible to transfer value between consumers and merchants. This technology also helps us understand the relevant tools and user needs, so as to achieve the purpose of infrastructure deployment.

At the same time, he also believes that the introduction of local digital currency can create a positive community environment. The municipal government and related organizations can start digital currency payment services to encourage people to recycle resources, volunteer activities or report community progress, etc.

Colu and Lightning Network

In order to increase transaction speed and ensure that the native cryptocurrency meets the standards of commercial use cases, Colu uses the Lightning Network payment channel to conduct small off-chain transactions. The scalability challenge of the Bitcoin network is that its blockchain is slow to process micropayments, making Bitcoin difficult to use for daily commercial transactions. With the Lightning Network, Colu believes that its native digital currency transactions are more user-friendly and more suitable for commercial use, although the Lightning Network is still in the development stage.

Will digital currencies pegged to fiat currencies help promote the popularity of cryptocurrencies?

Although Satoshi Nakamoto's original intention in creating Bitcoin was not to develop this digital currency linked to legal tender, judging from the local digital currency issued by Colu, this method does help popularize cryptocurrency around the world.