Swiss startup Tangem has won a contract to issue physical 'banknotes' for the Republic of the Marshall Islands decentralised digital national currency.
The Marshall Islands first announced its plans to issue the new currency, dubbed SOV, in February of last year, joining the US dollar as the country's official legal tender.
Tangem, which recently bagged $15 million in funding from Japan's SBI Group, is a producer of blockchain-enabled smart card wallets for cryptocurrencies, stable coins, ICO / TAO tokens and other digital assets.
For the Marshall Islands deal, each Tangem card will take the form of a unique physical banknote with a "secure blockchain-enabled microprocessor inside" and combine the familiar advantages of paper banknotes with the security of blockchain technology.
The firm says Tangem banknotes will enable the off-chain physical circulation of the SOV among all citizens and will not impose the technical infrastructure burden on the RMI.
Andrey Kurennykh, co-founder of Tangem, says: "As the IMF has noted, the world is moving towards the widespread adoption of digital currencies, and we are excited to support the birth of the new global digital economy."