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Can a Bitcoin-style virtual currency solve the Greek financial crisis? | Comment is free | The Guardian
If things go badly for Greece, finance minister Yanis Varoufakis has said he would consider creating a parallel digital currency, using Bitcoin's digital security and transparency, but doing the exact opposite of what the money fundamentalists intend.
the issuance of a Citizen Smart Card that can be used as an ID card, in the Health System, as well as for gaining access to the food stamp program etc.
It's in the program...
You hand out smart cards to the entire population. They are initially intended for accessing the health system, and for food stamps. Every citizen has an account created by the government. Retailers and health providers need terminals, obviously.
Then, some time later, ta-daa, you roll out Citizen Smart Card 2.0. It's the card you already have, but now you have an "Air Miles" account, with an initial free allocation on it. You can use your Air Miles to pay your tax. Retailers who accept food stamps will accept them for payment too, using them for their own tax liabilities, and exchanging them with other companies (all companies can have an Air Miles account too). Government income support would also be paid through the system, perhaps pensions...
Pretty quickly you have critical mass for a purely electronic currency -- I don't see any immediate need for physical scrip. It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
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