Financial company Power Finance plans to launch a digital version of the Power Dollar, which will be powered by distributed ledger technology (DLT).
Power Finance is led by Dave Corbett, partner at audit and consulting firm PwC. He said the Power Dollar will be developed without the participation of the New Zealand government and will be similar to the USDT stablecoin. The Power Dollar will be pegged to the NZ dollar at a 1: 1 ratio. The launch of the digital currency is scheduled for early next year.
Along with DLT, Power Finance will use smart identification technology to verify the identity of all Power Dollar holders and record transactions to prevent money laundering and fraud. Corbett added that the Power Dollar will be compliant with New Zealand law and regulatory requirements.
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) supports the firm’s initiative. However, RBNZ and the New Zealand Internal Revenue Service (IRD) clarified that they are not cooperating with Power Finance in creating a digital currency, so it cannot be said that it is being developed with government support. In addition, the departments said they are not responsible for regulating the activities of financial companies.
Following the launch of Power Dollar, the firm plans to obtain a banking license from RBNZ. Once approved by the regulator, Power Finance will begin attracting partners that will provide “banking-style services” outside of the traditional banking system. Corbett believes that in the event of a successful experiment with the Power Dollar in New Zealand, the country’s Central Bank will decide to issue its own cryptocurrency.
Recall that last year, the IRD recognized income in cryptocurrencies as legal, and at the beginning of this year proposed not to apply a tax on goods and services in relation to digital assets, but at the same time leave income tax. In addition, IRD recently sent letters to New Zealand cryptocurrency firms asking them to provide customers’ personal data and information about their cryptoassets.
