The Hull skyline. Image: Wikimedia Commons/Imagaril
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It all sounds, well, pretty unbelievable. The news was reported yesterday, but my first thought was it might be an April Fool’s joke mistakenly published too early. When I rang Hull City Council yesterday, no one was available to talk about the project—though Dave Shepherdson does appear to be a real person, appearing in agendas and minutes from the council.I called again this morning and a media officer said that no one was available to speak about HullCoin at that moment as they were in a meeting about it. When I asked if it was a real thing, she said she couldn’t give me any information about it but that it wasn’t an April Fool’s. HullCoin has also been reported on by other national and regional outlets, and CoinDesk quoted Shepherdson and other council members on the currency. I’ll update this piece when I hear back from the council myself.CoinDesk wrote that HullCoin was launched at a forum earlier this month as a means of tackling poverty. In some ways it brings to mind local paper currencies like London’s Brixton Pound, which encourage local spending. But being digital gives HullCoin one major difference; it’s not officially recognised as currency by the UK. That means that if people were paid in it, the income may not disqualify them from receiving benefits granted by the Department of Work and Pensions.HullCoin: the aim is to become the UK's first digital local currency, it's purpose is to address issues re. poverty in Hull.
— HullCoin (@HullCoin) March 22, 2014
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