Tunisia has gone down in history as the first nation to utilize a blockchain platform to support its national currency. Russia-based ICO firm Universa has been entrusted with the issuance and management of Tunisia’s Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

Reported by Tasson November 7, The Central Bank of Tunisia revealed that it has initiated the project to digitalise the Tunisian dinar, and the Universa Blockchain has been chosen as the platform that supports this paper-backed CBDC. 

Moreover, an undisclosed percentage of commission will be awarded to Universa, for every finalized transaction by the  “e-dinar”, and at the same time, the ledger can be transparently viewed by the central bank.

Nonetheless, Alexander Borodich – founder and current head of Universa – notified that the “e-dinar” coin cannot be classified as a true type of crypto coin.

The CBDC or e-dinar will have the state-owned feature, and supported by fiat money. The blockchain platform is expected to minimize the risk of counterfeiting, as well as bringing down the issuance cost and amp up the transparency level. 

“Digital banknotes cannot be counterfeited — each banknote is protected by cryptography like its paper counterpart has its own digital watermarks. Furthermore, the production of such a banknote is 100 times cheaper than wasting ink, paper and electricity in the printing process.”

This means the e coin is not a new currency, rather a specific amount of the country’s reserves is placed on the blockchain system, enabling Tunisians to obtain e-dinars, in exchange for paper money.