TUNJA, Colombia Nov 4 (Reuters) – A Colombian exporter of long-horned beetles, a well-liked pet for Japanese kids, has created its personal cryptocurrency to keep away from excessive commissions on worldwide gross sales.
“It is an alternate to have the ability to export the beetles to Japan or some other a part of the world and have the ability to use it as a way of fee,” stated Carmelo Campos, chief programmer of Tierra Viva, based mostly within the central Andean metropolis of Tunja.
The corporate exports Hercules, Neptunus and elephant beetle species which may fetch as much as $300 a pair in Tokyo. The gross sales fee can attain as excessive as 10% of export worth, motivating Tierra Viva to create the foreign money.
The Kmushicoin, named after the long-horned beetle Kabutomushi in Japanese, is accepted as fee by some 220 companies in Tunja, together with eating places, clothes shops, cafes and {hardware} outlets.
Tierra Viva makes use of a share of all its gross sales to purchase again the coinage, Campos stated.
Kmushicoin was value 0.30 cents when it was created in 2019. It traded at $1.84 on Tuesday.
“Our goal is to have the ability to use it as a way of fee on the nationwide stage,” Campos stated, including an electrical energy supplier has requested whether or not its prospects may pay their invoice with Kmushicoin.
The beetles, which may develop to the scale of an grownup’s hand and stay as much as 17 months, are fed vegetable and fruit scraps as larvae, producing a fertilizer which Tierra Viva additionally sells.
The beetles have lengthy been favored as pets for Japanese kids, in addition to good luck amulets.
“In whole, together with all of the levels of metamorphosis, we will have greater than 50,000 beetles taking part in their half in our operations,” stated Tierra Viva founder German Viasus, as two beetles crawled up his shirt.
Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Modifying by Richard Chang
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
