Bancor’s Plans for Local Cryptocurrencies

One of the biggest questions surrounding the much-hyped cryptocurrency world is why anyone would use digital currencies instead of cash. The founders of Bancor think the answer lies in small communities, like the residents of an apartment building or neighborhood.

That’s based in part on an experience the Bancor team had while working at an earlier startup called AppCoin. The Tel Aviv-based team identified a Facebook group of local mothers and provided them with their own digital currency to use in an online marketplace, which AppCoin had set up for them. The currency, called Hearts, was meant to represent value for goods and services like recycled toys or singing lessons that until then had not been exchanged for money.