First Digital Pound Sterling Ever is Mined, Minted, and Used

London, Nov. 27, 2018 — London Block Exchange, the first multi-cryptocurrency exchange dedicated to the UK market, today announced the first ever digital pound sterling through its partnership with AlphaPoint, a leading global blockchain technology company focused on enabling institutions to issue digital assets and to operate digital asset exchanges.

GBP-Peg (initially announced as LBXPeg) is a stablecoin that is pegged to the value of pound sterling (GBP). LBX has a segregated, onshore, and auditable UK bank account dedicated to GBPP. All GBP held in this account is represented by an equivalent number of GBPP tokens on the blockchain. GBPP and a future suite of stablecoins based on additional fiat currencies such as the Euro and the U.S. Dollar, will also leverage AlphaPoint’s asset digitization technology.

“GBPP will help boost mainstream usage of other cryptocurrencies by allowing investors to realize the technological benefits of instantaneous transactions, decreased volatility, and increased liquidity,” said Benjamin Dives, London Block Exchange CEO. “We are excited to partner with AlphaPoint, a globally trusted brand with technology that will help us deploy and maintain a robust network in a trusted and compliant manner.”

The digitization of GBPP will benefit businesses, traders, and consumers as it will enhance the seamless transfer of money across borders – making the transfer of money traceable, trustworthy, and frictionless; create a greater number of trading pairs; and open up more liquidity opportunities. Additional details include:

  • The first ever GBPP was minted on November 12, 2018 at 11:00 AM GMT via LBX
  • GBPP is the first blockchain-based, fully collateralized and regularly audited token tied to the value of pound sterling and held in a segregated UK bank account on a 1:1 basis
  • GBPP is an ERC-621 token – building upon the ERC-20 standard – and will grant the required flexibility in the total supply to match the quantity of GBP held in the segregated bank account
  • GBPP will also be issued on other blockchains where compliance controls can be maintained
  • A wide range of use cases include payments to merchants and a smart contract-based distribution of dividends for a company’s shareholders

 

“AlphaPoint believes that digital assets and blockchain technology are going to fuel the creation of new wealth and LBX is a perfect example of how organizations are leveraging AlphaPoint’s transformative technology to help democratize access to the cryptocurrency markets and create new liquidity opportunities,” said Salil Donde, AlphaPoint Chief Executive Officer. “By digitizing the pound, firms can now accept GBPP for purchases without needing to move into and out of fiat.”

Through its secure, scalable, and customizable distributed ledger platform, AlphaPoint enables customers to launch and operate markets as well as digitize assets. Over 100 institutions globally leverage AlphaPoint’s propietary technology, which supports a highly-secured venue and the ability to process nearly one million transactions per second.

LBX opened in November 2017 for OTC trades and, in addition to UK banking and a user-friendly app backed by world-class London-based customer service, it also follows rigorous KYC and AML protocols.

About LBX
The London Block Exchange is the first multi-cryptocurrency exchange dedicated to the UK market. Based in The City of London, LBX provides a credible, safe and easy exchange for consumers and institutional investors – delivered via its online platform and app. This is underpinned by educational content, bank-grade security and solid governance, with 12 cryptocurrencies currently available for trade with more to be added each month. London Block Exchange (FRN: 902014) is registered EMD Agent for e-wallet functionality by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011. For more information visit https://lbx.com and join our LBX News channel.

About AlphaPoint
AlphaPoint is a global financial technology company helping institutions make illiquid assets liquid. Through its secure, scalable, and customizable distributed ledger platform, AlphaPoint enables customers to digitize assets as well as launch and operate markets with its white label exchange and asset digitization technology. AlphaPoint and its award winning blockchain technology has helped institutions discover and execute their blockchain strategies since 2013. For more information, please visit https://alphapoint.com and follow @AlphaPointLive.

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