Context:

• The tiny Marshall Islands is creating its own digital currency in order to raise some hard cash to pay bills and boost the economy.

Other Facts:

• The Pacific island nation said it became the first country in the world to recognize a cryptocurrency as its legal tender when it passed a law this past week to create the digital “Sovereign,” or SOV. In the nation of 60,000, the cryptocurrency will have equal status with the U.S. dollar as a form of payment.
• Venezuela last month became the first country to launch its own cryptocurrency when it launched the virtual Petro, backed by crude oil reserves.
• The Marshall Islands said the SOV will be different because it will be recognized in law as legal tender, effectively backed by the government.
• The Marshall Islands is partnering with Israeli company Neema to launch the SOV. It plans to sell some of the currency to international investors and spend the proceeds.
• The Marshall Islands says the SOV will require users to identify themselves, thus avoiding the anonymity that has kept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies from gaining support from governments.

Marshall Islands

• The Republic of the Marshall Islands is an island country located near the equator in the Pacific Ocean, slightly west of the International Date Line.
• Geographically, the country is part of the larger island group of Micronesia.

Cryptocurrency

• A cryptocurrency is a digital asset designed to work as a medium of exchange using cryptography to secure the transactions and to control the creation of additional units of the currency.
• Cryptocurrencies are classified as a subset of digital currencies and are also classified as a subset of alternative currencies and virtual currencies.
• Bitcoin became the first decentralized cryptocurrency in 2009.

Source:Money Magazine & Wiki