A LAWMAKER recently filed a bill creating electronic money (e-money) as a medium of exchange for use on the Internet and all other electronic and nonelectronic means of communications.
House Bill 4914, authored by Nationalist People’s Coalition Rep. Kimi Cojuangco of Pangasinan, provides that the e-peso shall be recognized as the electronic legal tender and shall be available in all banks operating the country.
The bill provides that the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) shall explore and study the technology of “bitcoin and post bitcoin cryptocurrencies” to expand the knowledge base, which it will use in deciding what technology to use in e-peso.
The BSP will also choose a system that uses peer to peer processing of the log chain and shall exert its utmost to leverage existing hardware being used by the other leading cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, it added.
The measure also said the BSP shall mandate all bank branches to dedicate at least one computer with adequate technical specification to serve as a local peer.
An initial amount equivalent to 1 percent of the total amount of Philippine currency in circulation shall be minted by the BSP within one year from the enactment of the proposed act.
In her explanatory note, Cojuangco said there is an urgent need to enact the proposed e-Peso Act of 2014 since there is no official medium of exchange or money for the Internet.
“What exists is a patchwork of methods using traditional credit systems, which act in place of money on the Internet. The e-peso is the electronic equivalent to the paper peso,” he said.
The lawmaker added the e-peso would be a legal tender and legal payment for debt, taxes, goods and services transacted through the Internet.
Cojuangco said the amount on circulation of the e-peso would be limited to P1 billion in the initial two years.