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Britcoin surging: A digital currency that claims to uphold “British morals”

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Another day and another cryptocurrency is surging. However, this crypto is not one that has received the attention of Bitcoin, Darkcoin, Peercoin – and understandably so given its size and age.

This month-old crypto is none other than Britcoin, a digital currency that "upholds British morals", according to its creator William Thomas.

Quite how a decentralised peer-to-peer digital currency upholds the morals of a certain part of the planet's surface, Thomas fails to specify.

Britcoin, according to its website, is "completely in the hands of the users, the British public".

But, in an interview with IBTimes, Thomas concedes that Britcoin can be used by anyone around the world, just like Bitcoin, reassuring us in his words that "Johnny foreigners are welcome," much to the disappointment of UKIP crypto fans everywhere.

Launched only last month, Britcoin has managed to double its market capitalisation in two days to $40,000. This situates Britcoin a whisker below Harmonycoin as the world's 146th largest cryptocurrency.

Williams has a number of grievances against the more established digital currencies. Among them he cites slow transaction times, mining hardware and risks of attack. Britcoin was also launched, in part, to provide more security and a "fairer distribution of minted coins for users".

A digital currency primarily aimed at a single nationality is certainly not in keeping with the spirit of most of those in the cryptocurrency world, who tend to welcome the global nature of cryptocurrency.

However, Brticoin backers believe that to achieve market penetration can best be achieved through distributions to a large population in a small geographical region. Britcoin is not the first such national digital currency, with Iceland's Auroracoin, which has failed to gain traction.

According to IBTimes, free scratchcards are part of Britcoin's plan to get the word out and distribute the coin, as well as a more conventional marketplace to trade using the digital currency.

"As a new coin, britcoin does not carry any of the negative connotations that Bitcoin does. We intend for Britcoin to be a standard of integrity and security in the digital currency world," said Thomas.

Here are the technical specifications of Britcoin as listed on its website:
– 20m total coin supply
– X13 Algorithm
– 60-second block time
– Five per cent Annual Interest on Staked coins
– 12 hours min stake age
– No IPO
– 110 Block confirmations to maturity (for mined blocks)
– 1000 Coins per block
– Ports: Main=9197, RPC=9198