North Korea is in the early stages of developing its own cryptocurrency

North Korea is in the early stages of developing its own cryptocurrency in a bid to avoid crippling international sanctions, VICE News reports. The digital currency, which doesn’t even have a name yet, will be “more like bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies,” said Alejandro Cao de Benos, the official in charge of North Korea’s cryptocurrency conferences, and a special delegate for the Committee for Cultural Relations for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). “We are still in the very early stages in the creation of the token. Now we are in the phase of studying the goods that will give value to it,” said Cao de Benos, adding that there are “no plans to digitize the [North Korean] won for now.”

Last week, North Korea announced its second annual cryptocurrency conference in February 2020.