The German demonstrated during the Mobile World Congress, a system that uses virtual currency. This raises the debate of new technologies such as blockchain.
The presentation could have found its place in the program of the next Connected Automotive Conference of the Journal of the Automobile. Mercedes took advantage of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona to unveil its intentions to introduce virtual currency in some business models. In a speech entitled “How the blockchain will change mobility”, two Stuttgart spokespersons presented an internal project to the company that exploits cryptocurrency.
Called “MobiCoins” on this occasion, the virtual currency is rewarding an eco-driving score. A case of use among many others conceivable. “We do not have a plan, we will go through the steps one after the other,” tempered Thomas Sauer, director of development of future financing and control tools group Daimler AG. Without being considered for the moment, the idea of the creation of a cryptocurrency is not yet definitively ruled out.
More broadly, this initiative puts on the table the subject of the group’s use of the blockchain. While in France the question of trust in the prospect of subsidizing ridesharing, Daimler experts imagine using the Blockchain to secure information and transactions in mobility programs, particularly from individual to individual. “There is interest in payment and micropayment,” they illustrate. Will the trust system win Daimler’s? It will be necessary to wait to have the answer.