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Toyota Systems, the IT arm of Toyota Motor Corporation, is partnering with Japanese cryptocurrency exchange DeCurret to develop a Toyota-branded digital currency, according to an official announcement on Oct. 26.
The large-scale pilot project will involve 2,500 Toyota Systems employees. The platform will feature payments in digital currency for benefits.
According to the announcement, participating employees will be able to exchange digital currency for benefit points or gifts from a catalog. Toyota Systems noted that the digital currency cannot be exchanged for the Japanese yen.
The new pilot project uses DeCurret’s proprietary blockchain-based platform for issuing and managing digital currencies. The pilot project will test the scalability of a peer-to-peer model on the blockchain, as well as the business problems related to payments to a large group of people.
Toyota actively explored the blockchain industry, founding its Toyota Blockchain Lab in March 2020. The automotive industry joined the R3 consortium, a major industry alliance, in 2016.
Toyota isn’t the only carmaker to experiment with blockchain and cryptocurrency. In early October, BMW Korea announced that it will be the first subsidiary of the BMW Group to run a blockchain-based token trial that is expected to roll out fully in the country by the end of 2020. In September 2020, luxury carmaker Groupe Renault piloted its blockchain project aimed at facilitating the conformity certification of vehicle parts.
