It might sound like a marketing gimmick, but the founders of the first LGBT+ cryptocurrency said they want to harness the communitys economic power with the aim of changing the world.<\/p>\n
The maricoin, a play on words taken from a homophobic slur in Spanish, was launched on Friday in a week-long pilot test involving 10 businesses in Chueca, known as the LGBT+ neighbourhood of Spains capital, Madrid.<\/p>\n
Maricoins backers are aiming for the virtual currency to start trading early next year, paving the way for it to be used as a means of payment at LGBT-friendly businesses and events worldwide.<\/p>\n
Since we move this economy, why shouldnt our community profit from it, instead of banks, insurance companies or big corporations that often dont help LGBT+ people? co-founder Juan Belmonte, 48, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.<\/p>\n
Belmonte, a hairdresser and entrepreneur, said the idea for the LGBT+ cryptocurrency came to him while he was partying with friends at Madrids Pride event in July this year.<\/p>\n
But he traces the projects origins back to 2017, when the ultra-Conservative group HazteOir launched a campaign against transgender rights by sending a bus around Spain bearing the words: Boys have penises, girls have vulvas. Do not be fooled.<\/p>\n
The conservative Christian groups campaign was swiftly banned by Spanish authorities, but Belmonte said it made him realize he had to do something to help leverage the LGBT+ communitys economic clout in the fight against homophobia.<\/p>\n
The global LGBT+ market is huge, with research by Swiss bank Credit Suisse suggesting it would rank as the worlds fourth-largest economy, behind Japan but ahead of Germany in terms of purchasing power.<\/p>\n
A 2018 study conducted by Kantar Consulting and LGBT+ social network Hornet estimated the communitys buying power in the United States alone at $1 trillion in 2016 almost equal to that of African-American or Hispanic consumers.<\/p>\n
Maricoin is backed by Miami-based venture capital firm Borderless Capital, and the initiatives Chief Executive Francisco Alvarez said 8,000 people were already on a waiting list seeking to buy maricoins before the currency starts trading.<\/p>\n
Under their plans, the LGBT+ cryptocurrency will be accepted as payment in businesses from restaurants and cafes to shops and hotels that have signed an equality manifesto.<\/p>\n
Among other things, the manifesto defends the rights of LGBT+ people and everyone suffering from exclusion, as well as advocating a social, ethical, transversal and transparent economy.<\/p>\n
The establishments that accept our coin will be listed on our map, which will work as an LGBTI guide for anyone visiting any city in the world, Alvarez, 48, said.<\/p>\n
If they violate any of the points of our anti-discrimination manifesto, for example if they fire a pregnant woman because of her pregnancy, they will be expelled from maricoin, he added.<\/p>\n
The currency will also have its own LGBT-related language transfers between maricoin users are called trans.<\/p>\n
Alvarez and Belmonte also hope the venture can generate a source of financing for LGBT+ businesses and community initiatives worldwide.<\/p>\n
Well be able to give microcredits for people to set up a small LGBTI-friendly cafe in Colombia, or to support projects helping queer refugees flee countries where theyd be stoned to death, he said.<\/p>\n
Were looking forward to changing the world.<\/p>\n
Your time is valuable. Have the Top Business Headlines newsletter conveniently delivered to your inbox in the morning or evening. Sign up today.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Read the rest here: It might sound like a marketing gimmick, but the founders of the first LGBT+ cryptocurrency said they want to harness the communitys economic power with the aim of changing the world. The maricoin, a play on words taken from a homophobic slur in Spanish, was launched on Friday in a week-long pilot test involving 10 businesses in Chueca, known as the LGBT+ neighbourhood of Spains capital, Madrid Continue reading
\nFounders of first LGBT+ cryptocurrency, the maricoin, bet on 'changing the world' - The Globe and Mail<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"