Kelly Robertson
The Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) and the whole blockchain revolution keep gaining media traction, prompting entities that are seldom associated with latest tech advancements to join the ride. And so we have the Lafayette parish, Louisiana thinking about creating its own cryptocurrency and launching an ICO.
In a recent speech at the Heymann Center, Mayor-President Joel Robideaux presented Lafayette as a technological hub, which could have its own digital currency to motivate investors to steer money into the parish.
Beyond attracting tech innovation, this sort of move could help the budget of the municipality, of which the general fund is “basically wiped out”, as well as help diversify the local economy while enhancing government services.
“It’s not just a bunch of global libertarians that want unregulated, untraceable and secure digital currency transactions,” Robideaux said. “It’s the recognition of global stakeholders that the world of banking, finance and payment systems is forever changed, that the world of healthcare, government and possibly every other industry is about to be disrupted.”
The plan includes an ICO the money from which would be used to “build a living lab of Blockchain researchers and developers.” Furthermore, at least some of the funds would go towards developing solutions targeting “government inefficiencies, and, more importantly, alternatives for financing public infrastructure.”
Sounds like a good idea, and…
There are other municipalities mulling similar projects
One of them is the city of Berkeley in California which wants to launch an ICO — they call it the Initial Community Offering — to raise funds for important projects like affordable housing. Even before that, it wants to test the idea with smaller ventures, such as purchasing an ambulance for a fire station.
However, what the city of Berkeley aims to do is somewhat different as it plans to tokenize regular municipal bonds so that regular folks could invest in projects of their choosing in low denominations, with the underlying blockchain-based technology ensuring for reduced transaction costs and transparent city finances.
“Essentially, we would like to explore some new ways of financing because we have terrific needs, and we’re concerned about our ability to fulfill our moral and legal obligations for our residents here,” explained Berkeley councilman Ben Bartlett.
Another example comes from Japan, where the village of Nishiawakura in Okayama Prefecture was planning to raise money in an ICO for financing projects to upgrade vital infrastructure in the village. We are, however, not sure how that project went. And even whether it’s still a “thing” or not. It did sound promising, and considering the blockchain-friendly environment in the Land of the rising Sun, it perhaps makes more sense than projects taking place elsewhere…
