The Central Bank of Lithuania is calling on tech companies and blockchain experts from across the globe to help in the design and production of a digital collector coin.
The Central Bank is organising a hackathon in May for third parties to help in the design and development of the one-off virtual currency. Final decisions on the mintage, denomination, price and the date of issue of the coin as well as the mode of distribution will be made after the hackathon comes to a close.
The new coin will appear alongside other limited editions of physical currency items for the bank's annual numismatic display, commemorating important events, phenomena or prominent figures.
"Introducing a digital collector coin, Lithuania would be the first to break new ground in numismatics,’ says Bank board member Marius Jurgilas. "Many challenges are upon us, yet we hope that, having overcome any hurdles that may come our way, we will make our plans a reality before the end of the year."
Lithuania has been actively promoting itself as a fintech-friendly destination for startups across Europe, with the country welcoming 35 new firms in 2017.
Alongside a raft of legislative reforms, the country is also laying the groundwork to become a blockchain centre of excellence in Europe. At the start of the year the Central Bank announced its intention to create a blockchain sandbox platform, dubbed LBChain. The project is expected to be launched in 2019.