Big corporations create their very own cryptocurrencies

It was discovered that the giant retail corporation Walmart has patented plans for a stablecoin that's backed by U.S. dollars. If released into the wild, the USDbased cryptocurrency would be issued to select Walmart retailers and partners while the patent's description explains the coin could be used outside of Walmart's retail scope as well. Walmart's patent follows Facebook's recent Libra announcement and the 'Walmart coin' specifications are similar to the social media giant's project as well.

Big-name corporations have been announcing the creation of their very own cryptocurrencies and the news has been a hot subject within the crypto community. It all started on June 18 when Facebook announced the launch of Libra, a stablecoin that will be available in Messenger, Whatsapp and as a standalone app, with the company expecting to launch the product in 2020. However, Facebook's project riled up politicians and immediately got regulatory pushback from worldwide leaders and threats from U.S. congressional members.

Now Walmart is stepping into the ring to test its own blockchain technology as the company has filed a new digital currency patent that describes a stablecoin backed by USD. Walmart's coin, if developed, could be easily be tested at its 11,368 hypermarkets, department stores and grocery clubs located in 27 countries. The Walmart coin was created by Robert Cantrell, David Nelms, John O'Brien, and Brian McHale. The patent's abstract description states:

"[The] method includes: generating one digital currency unit by tying the one digital currency unit to a regular currency; storing information of the one digital currency unit into a block of a blockchain; buying or paying the one digital currency unit."

"The digital currency may be pegged to the US dollar and available for use only at selected retailers or partners. In other embodiments, the digital currency is available for use anywhere. The digital currency can provide a fee-free, or feeminimal place to store wealth that can be spent, for example, at retailers and, if needed, easily converted

Walmarts filing adds.

A closer look at the filing shows that the Walmart coin concept offers a number of features like "pre-approved biometric (e.g., fingerprint or eye pattern) credit" and could store a user's transaction history and give loyalty points. Much like Facebook's Libra, the coin produced by Walmart aims to help lowincome families worldwide. "Using a digital currency, low-income households that find banking expensive, may have an alternative way to handle wealth at an institution that can supply the majority of their day-to-day financial and product needs," the Walmart filing details. "In some embodiments, retailers may be directly to aid organizations for assis

to

cash," tance that may be used to provide goods. Retailers may tie into assistance that can provide vehicles or funding for vehicles to get goods to customers when the customers do not have sufficient mobility otherwise," the patent reveals.

The news comes years after Walmart attempted to become an industrial loan company (ILC) but got pushback from politicians and regulators. Bankers and anti-Walmart groups forced politicians to pass laws to stop Walmart in its tracks from opening bank branches.

Because of the opposition, Walmart's application filed with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) never gained traction.

Just like when Facebook announced Libra, congressional leaders scheduled two public hearings with Walmart over the ILC attempt. During the end of the debate against massive opposition, Walmart removed certain retail banking goals and focused solely on payment processing. Interestingly, the department store's competitor Target was granted approval by the U.S. government to operate an ILC but skeptics think Walmart's ILC idea was too broad.

The Walmart ILC filing filed in 2005 sat with the FDIC until the corporation withdrew the request in March 2007. "We notified the FDIC today that Walmart has withdrawn the application we made in July 2005 for an Industrial Loan Company (ILC) charter," the company revealed at the time.