Canadian Provincial Government of Alberta To Create ‘AltaCoin’ (ATC)

$325,000 will be funded to produce the first provincial digital currency in Canada, the Provincial government has announced.

This new digital currency will only be made available to Albertans and will be given the name of AltaCoin aka ATC. People residing within Alberta will be able to make transactions and purchases in local shops and businesses using the digital coin. Later this year, residents will be able to buy cigarettes using ATC as well.

The spokesman for Alberta Treasury Board and Finance, David Dullard said that each ATC will be worth five cents when the government launches this new initiative. The expected time of introducing the coin to the public is hoped to be in June.

AltaCoin (ATC) Details

Albertans will have to “mine” for the digital currency from government servers which are said to be “secure.” According to Dullard, it’s a win-win situation. All parties involved will be affected positively by this new initiative. Dullard said,

“We’ve been working on this for the past year, basically since we heard that Bitcoin was taking off…But where those coins are volatile, ATC will be steady and boost provincial revenues to the tune of $3 billion per year.”

The government will be in possession of 25% of all ATCs ever to be created. Furthermore, 4.6 trillion ATCs will ever be issued by the government.

$10 million per year is planned to be taken from the Heritage Savings Trust Fund and will be used to make ATCs. By the end of 2017, the estimated profits made from ATCs are expected to remove Alberta’s “bitumen bubble.”

Dullard stated,

“The ultimate goal here is to get the Keystone XL pipeline approved, and AltaCoin is our best chance to do that.”

West Edmonton Mall will see an early first appearance from AltaCoin. The primary consumers of ATCs will be using the digital coin to buy World Waterpark and Galaxy-Land tickets. AltaCoins ATMs are due to launch in Edmonton and Calgary by end of next month.

According to Dullard, several professionals have already been hired by the government to produce the coins. These professionals have expertise in programming, hacking and L337 speak.

Image