Canada's failed digital currency venture cost millions of dollars: report
The failed MintChip program in 2016 prompted then-finance minister Bill Morneau to strip Mint managers of authority in launching any new ventures without cabinet approval.
According to figures released by the Royal Canadian Mint on Tuesday, a failed Canadian digital currency venture cost millions of dollars.
"We have nothing to add," said Mint spokesperson Alex Reeves. "We do not segment the reporting of operating costs nor investments by business line."
Management would not comment further as they consider financial information strictly confidential, reported Blacklock's Reporter.
According to corporate records, Mint spent roughly $34.3 million on the venture, launched in 2012 to facilitate a "new era" in currency. They estimated costs at $29 million for the project's unrecovered research and development costs.
Blacklock's Reporter claims the costs reflect the filing of eight patents, production of sales videos, a doubling in the hiring of research scientists and a $50,000 cash prize to software developers to design a MintChip app.
Saskatchewan Premier Scott Moe told the Trudeau Liberals that his province would not facilitate a national healthcare "digital ID" — even if it's required to secure healthcare funding from the feds.https://t.co/qf11nExBaE
— Rebel News Canada (@RebelNews_CA) February 3, 2023
In 2015, Mint sold MintChip — its custom-made digital currency — to private investors for $16 million.
"In December 2015, the company closed the sale of MintChip for a cash consideration of $5 million paid at closing and an $11 million, four percent interest-bearing secured promissory note with interest payments due semi-annually," said the Annual Report. They did not receive the principal $11 million due last December 16.
Mint executives hailed the program as groundbreaking. Canada was "the only mint to have initiated research and development related to the evolution of physical currency," then-CEO Ian Bennett said in 2012.
"Money as we know it is fine today, but tomorrow is a different story," said one Mint promotion. MintChip was described as "better than cash since you can use it online."
Alberta has joined Saskatchewan as the only Canadian provinces opposed to implementing a national health-care “digital ID.”
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) February 11, 2023
READ MORE: https://t.co/IG16SOpmNK pic.twitter.com/7yQZcgEBJL
In 2013, the Bank of Canada disbanded the program. The central bank has a legal monopoly over the distribution of money under the 1934 Currency Act and earns $1.6 billion a year through the circulation of banknotes, by official estimates.
Mint managers spent two years searching for a buyer for the program, and kept its net losses private.
The failed MintChip program in 2016 prompted then-finance minister Bill Morneau to strip Mint managers of authority in launching any new ventures without cabinet approval.
"While the Mint operates in part on a commercial, profit-oriented basis, as a federal Crown corporation, it is an instrument of public policy for which the Government is ultimately accountable to Parliament and Canadians," Morneau wrote in a Letter Of Expectations.
Canada’s push for digital IDs is gaining traction if a government broadcast is to be believed.
— Rebel News (@RebelNewsOnline) September 2, 2022
Do you want a digital ID?
MORE: https://t.co/OSp07jbVb0 pic.twitter.com/h6QW9MPJoK
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