During the International Monetary Fund (IMF) spring meetings, the Digital Currency Monetary Authority (DCMA) announced the launch of an international digital currency called Unicoin or UMU (Universal Monetary Unit), denoted by the letter Ü (https://umu.cash/).
The UMU will operate as a centrally controlled cryptocurrency, which has the characteristics of a stablecoin.
One UMU is equivalent to one US dollar. They (banksters/IMF) of course misuse the term decentralized as it is far from the truth.
In reality there will be very few nodes, as they admit, owned by a few (mainly central) banks.
Crypto 2.0
The founders of the currency refer to it as “Crypto 2.0”. They describe it as the next wave of cryptography-based innovations, boosted by the powers of artificial intelligence.
With the key difference from the cryptocurrencies we know, it is designed for adoption by central and commercial banks, fintech companies, governments, and cryptocurrency exchanges.
Indeed, they have copied many elements from the crypto space.
The currency has a white paper, is based on cryptography and uses a form of blockchain as its operating base, which they present as a decentralized database (ed. The word blockchain is avoided by central banks and the IMF. In its place they use DLT or Distributed Ledger Technology).
They also base the digital currency architecture on a consensus protocol for proof of trust which they call SPOT.
Bitcoin
The attempt to differentiate from Bitcoin is obvious.
As they correctly claim, Bitcoin was not designed to operate within regulated financial institutions.
This is why they believe it leaves room for another digital payment system that is intended to evolve to meet the demands of banks.
As they point out, the banking industry worldwide recognises two forms of legal cash.
Electronic cash within the regulatory framework and banknotes that can be exchanged privately and anonymously outside the banking system. Bitcoin is neither one nor the other and therefore becomes unattractive, they argue.
Unicoin’s Introduction
Unicoin was first introduced to the global stage in 2020, when it won the Innovation of the Year Award during Hong Kong’s Blockchain Week.
The new currency, according to its creators, is intended to evolve into a monetary commodity that can be traded with any legal tender. It will function like a CBDC (central bank digital currency) to enforce banking regulations and “protect the financial integrity of the international banking system”.
The new currency is similar to the Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) already issued by the IMF.
SDR was created in 1969 as an international reserve currency, at a time when the gold standard was still in force, to replenish the foreign exchange reserves of a country in trouble. After the collapse of the fixed exchange rate system in 1973, the SDR was redesigned as a basket involving the major currencies. The value of the basket, i.e. the currencies included and their weight, is reassessed every five years.
However, unlike SDRs, which could not be acquired by individuals as they functioned as foreign exchange reserves, Unicoins can. Banks will be able to use the new currency by linking SWIFT codes and bank accounts to a UMU digital currency wallet.
This enables them to make cross-border payments entirely digitally, access the best wholesale exchange rates and achieve instant settlement in real time, while bypassing the correspondent banking system.
The wallet in which the UMU will be held and transacted will have exchange rates built-in and can be instantly converted into any currency based on the current exchange rate.
As Tobias Adrian, Director at the International Monetary Fund, admitted, “Cross-border payments can be slow, expensive and risky.
Counterparties belonging to different jurisdictions rely on costly trust relationships to compensate for the lack of a common settlement asset along with common governance rules.
But imagine if there was a multilateral platform that could streamline cross-border foreign exchange payments and share risk”.
The UMU is not attempting to disrupt the international monetary system, said Darrell Hubbard, Executive Director of the DCMA.
In fact, it strengthens it by helping the IMF achieve its stated mandate.
That is to provide economic assistance and financial stability to its member states.
Supplementary Money
The Unicoin is designed to function as a supplementary money, as a store of value, but also as a payment currency at the time of settlement. Traders will be able to accept the UMU as a means of payment for goods and services invoiced in any national legal tender.
In other words, Unicoin aspires to overcome the problem of costly and time-consuming clearing between different countries and/or banks. No need for clearing agents, back office and other costly infrastructure.
Bitcoin Vs Unicoin
With Bitcoin you don’t need any intermediary. No bank, no Visa. When you accept a card payment, when you put it in the POS, actually what Visa does in conjunction with the bank is first of all, it determines whether the person who wants to pay you has a sufficient balance in their account. Then, it makes sure that you transfer the money into your account.
In Bitcoin this question and process is not done by just one person. You address thousands of people scattered around the world who play the role of the controller.
What do all these thousands have in common? Copies of your account and the counterparty’s account. As well as all the others, which are constantly updated every 10 minutes. Only if they all agree can the transaction proceed. This means a decentralized network, what they call a blockchain.
There are two main differences between Bitcoin and Unicoin. One is that it will have a fixed exchange rate against the dollar. So it will work like a stablecoin. A form of cryptocurrency that has been around and working for years. Nothing particularly innovative.
The second difference – and the most important one – is that it will be directly controlled by a small team, under the supervision of the IMF. They will be able to freeze your account, confiscate your money or prevent it from being transferred.
As it is done today, but in a more enhanced form of control and supervision, as they will operate on the architecture of CBDCs.
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