Nishiawakura, a Japanese village is turning to cryptocurrencies to strengthen its economy

Cryptocurrencies have been the talk of the town for quite some time now. From fraud scandals to volatile market controversies, cryptocurrencies have been in news for more reasons than one.

And now, a small village called Nishiawakura in Japan is turning to cryptocurrencies to strengthen its economy.

Nishiawakura is home to approximately 1,500 villagers. The village is situated in Okayama prefecture. As per a report by Coindesk, the village unveiled its plans to launch a regional initial coin offering last week as a way to secure funding. About 95 percent of the town is made up of forest area and the municipality of the village has to totally rely on forestry to support its economy.

The Nishiawakura Coin (NAC) will be issued and circulated by Nishiawakura’s Token Economy Association. The launch date of the Nishiawakura Coin has not yet been released but some details about the upcoming coin can be seen and found on the village’s official website (nishiawakura.org).

According to Nikkei’s report on June 16, the village began the work and efforts towards ICO after its leaders observed that ICOs are being widely accepted and used around the globe by companies and non-governmental organisations. The village officials also noted how the country is moving ahead with the establishment of self-regulatory rules regarding the blockchain funding model.

Yoichi Ochiai, a Japanese researcher and cryptocurrency author, has claimed how the future local governments in Japan “will move away from centralisation and make an aggressive investment in ICOs.” The village has been quoted as per its official release.

The ICOs are on a boom worldwide, as this is not the first time when a village municipal or small municipal has shown interest in the ICOs. Previously, in the Louisiana city of Lafayette the mayor pitched on adapting to ICOs to raise cash.