The International Monetary Fund (IMF), a Washington, DC-based organization which aims to “foster global monetary cooperation,” and the World Bank, a financial institution that allocates funds for various global economic projects, have announced that they’re working on a private blockchain network that will implement a “quasi-cryptocurrency.”

According to a report from the Financial Times, published on April 12th, the digital currency being developed by the IMF and World Bank will be referred to as the “Learning Coin.” The coin project has been launched in order to conduct research and learn more about the core technologies that have been used to implement cryptographic assets such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH).

Learning Coin Will Have “No Real Value”

Clarifying that the Learning Coin will have no real value as it is not intended for conducting day-to-day transactions, the development team at the World Bank and IMF also mentioned that they’re working on a new app which will support their research-focused initiative. As noted by the Financial Times, the app is being developed so that users can connect to a web-based interface.

This interface will allow users to access educational blogs, videos, presentations, and other research materials related to the development of the Learning Coin. Those who participate in the IMF and World Bank-backed crypto project will be compensated in coins for their contributions. The coins will reportedly be redeemable for various goods and services.

Regulators Need To Learn More About Crypto

According to statements from both organizations, the Learning Coin project has been launched in order to help its participants understand how digital assets can be used in our everyday lives. Commenting on the launch of their research-oriented initiative, a representative from the IMF stated that traditional financial institutions and regulators throughout the world need to learn more about cryptocurrencies.

An official statement from the IMF reads as follows: 

The development of crypto-assets and distributed ledger technology (DLT) is evolving rapidly, as is the amount of information (both neutral and vested) surrounding it. This is forcing central banks, regulators and financial institutions to recognize a growing knowledge gap between the legislators, policymakers, economists and the technology.

Notably, the IMF and World Bank are also planning to study blockchain-based smart contracts and how they can be used to prevent illicit activities including money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Last week, the IMF reported the results of a survey regarding financial technology (FinTech) that it had conducted via Twitter. The organization had asked its followers on Twitter how they would be “paying for lunch in 5 years” from now. Interestingly, 56% or the majority of the 37,660 respondents said that they’d probably be using cryptocurrencies to pay for lunch.