São Paulo – Major Brazil-based coffee cooperative Minasul has launched the world’s first coffee-backed cryptocurrency. The currency premiered on Thursday (1) and has been negotiated on specialized platform Exchange Stonoex. Each Coffee Coin is worth a kilogram of commodity green coffee.
As the coffee bean is daily regulated by the market, the equivalent value of the Coffee Coin will follow the same commercial basis of the coffee. The data of the currency are updated through a token that is acquired by those interested in the investment. Minasul is responsible for backing the coin, and its stocks ensures the volume of Coffee Coins on the market.
Minasul New Business director Luis Henrique Albinati explains that the business is considered a stablecoin, as it’s connected to an actual asset. “The currency is connected to an actual asset, coffee in this case, which makes it safer. Coffee Coin has a trade minimum that’ll always equal to the coffee prices on the market. On the other hand, it has no maximums, so it can reach high levels on the secondary market, where people trade a cryptocurrency for another,” he told ANBA.
- You may also enjoy reading: Cryptocurrency launched in Dubai is pioneer in Rio carnaval
The investor can trade its Coffee Coin for physical money or sell it for fresh coffee. In the latter case, however, Minasul has established a minimum of Coffee Coins that equals to 1,500 kg of green coffee.
Other types of stable coin are backed by the dollar or gold, such as the Golden Coin. “It’s a great investment opportunity for those searching for marketability or a long-term investment. You won’t have the same gains of the bitcoin because the spread is smaller. Coffee Coin is an investment that I find safe and conservative,” the executive pointed out.
Albinati believes this can be an option for foreign investors. As for imports, he believes purchases in the coffee market will follow the same path. “In the case of the Arabs, it’s a market we’re keenly interested in, so much so that we’ve had meetings with the Agriculture Ministry regarding the Saudi market. They don’t know much about the Brazilian coffee, thus we aim to promote it there. For them, the Coffee Coin is a good investment option. As for purchases, physical-money operations could be a better option, as the cryptocurrency has the coffee price as its basis but can be worth much more,” he said.
Here’s more on this:
- Brazilian coffee promotion work to target Saudi Arabia
- Arabs imported 40% more Brazilian coffee this January-April
The coffee-backed cryptocurrency has been developed since 2019, but the cooperative has invested in tech projects at least since 2016. The previous initiative has been launching a digital barter. “The online barter operation is what we call intramural. The farmer can trade coffee for goods of the Minasul stores only,” Albinati explained.
The executive is himself a farmer and has experience in the IT sector. “Minasul has always been focused on the tech side. Since 2016, this vision of technological applications has been increasingly implemented. We’ve done this with a climatic monitoring, crop mapping. I believe from now on we’ll have many disruptive business opportunities,” he finished.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
