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Catalonia, which is fighting for the independence of Spain, is considering an electronic residency program similar to that of Estonia. Catalonia also plans to adopt its own digital token or cryptocurrency.
The Government of Catalonia, the Generalitat de Catalunya, has sent representatives to Estonia to inquire about the electronic residency program, which offers a digital identity card issued by the government, allowing for the use of electronic identity cards. operate an independent business online.
Dani Marco, the director of SmartCatalonia, an official Catalan agency, said that Estonians have built a model of economic development from scratch. Marco seems to be leading the online residence initiative of Catalonia.
Catalonia continues to move forward with plans to create a separate economy of Spain, according to El Pais, the leading Spanish newspaper. Estonia's electronic residency program serves as a model for Catalonia and could be inspired by an Estonian proposal to issue national blockchain-based tokens.
Advantages of the electronic residence
El Pais reports that Catalonia is interested in the electronic residence program in Estonia, because the program has no borders. The e-residence program has attracted more than 20,000 entrepreneurs from 143 countries since 2014, including 336 from Spain.
El Pais also reported that Catalonia has the largest number of entrepreneurs and those who work with virtual currencies in Spain.
Vitalik Buterin weighs
Experts from Blockchain in Catalonia requested the help of Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, according to El Pais. Vitalik advised the Catalans to create an ICO to offer a currency that would work in tandem with the financing of a business project for the virtual residency program. The electronic residence ecosystem could create an independent economic community of a central bank.
Estonia recently proposed "Estcoin", a national cryptocurrency. If the country follows this plan, it will be the first national government to launch an ICO.
Kaspar Korjus, general manager of Estonia's online residency program, published a blog in August claiming that Estonia could offer Estcoins to residents. The rooms could be managed by the Republic of Estonia, but accessible to all through the e-residence program. The program would launch an ICO to offer the parts.
Korjus also said that the ability to start an independent business is the main factor driving the growth of the e-residence program.
Read also: The mayor of Barcelona pleads for a local digital currency
The OIC of Estonia in doubt
NCC reported last month, however, that Estonia is not going to launch an ICO or become the first nation to adopt a state-backed cryptocurrency. A Swedish central bank advisor told Business Insider that his office had confirmed with the Estonian central bank that they had no plans to launch an official digital currency
Since Korjus published the proposal on the website of the e-residence program, an official address of the governmental domain which includes the official seal of the Republic of Estonia, many have been led to believe that the proposal had Government approval.
Meanwhile, Mario Draghi, the head of the European Central Bank, criticized Estonia 's proposal for a separate cryptocurrency, according to the International Business Times. Draghi said that no member state can introduce its own currency since the euro is the currency of the eurozone
Korjus, however, told a recent GovChain blockchain event in London that Estcoins could serve as cryptocurrency or cryptocurrency on an EU scale.
If startups can raise money, why not governments, asked Korjus. There are currently 1.3 million e-residents in Estonia's e-voting system.
Image from Shutterstock.