A Tether Copycat Appears in Romania

While most of the world endeavors to use Tether (USDT) as the stablecoin du jour, a company in Romania decided to present a different approach for people inside the country.

As it is often difficult to acquire USDT in that part of the world, the idea of RONcoin (RONC) popped up and materialized through the guiding hands of Bitcoin Romania, the country’s leading provider of BTC and ETH exchange services.

According to the official website, over one billion tokens worth $246 million are currently available for trading with 25,000 ($6,155) currently in circulation. The backers behind the coin promise that the supply will be audited with consistency.

“Transparency defines us. Transactions could be placed at any time under an audit stored in the blockchain… Our reserve account is audited regularly and you have access to your balance 24/7. To issue or redeem RONC, you will have to go through our know your customer (KYC) form,” the site says.

The coin is purportedly backed by a 1-to-1 ratio of Romanian New Lei (RON), similarly to how Tether is backed up by an equal balance of US dollars.

While this may make the purchase of a stablecoin easier for Romanian citizens, its use is questionable in a land where paper cash is still king. So far, only a few companies in the country accept cryptocurrency at all.

Then there are the the Zebrapay terminals set up in the country that allow people to purchase BTC and ETH directly with their paper cash through a partnership with Bitcoin Romania, the very company behind RONC.

At first, it appears that BR is competing with itself through this offer, but then we must take into account that Zebrapay does not allow people to sell their cryptoassets for RON. RONC may be the solution to this problem, especially considering that Bitcoin Romania’s own ATMs that allow people to sell their coins are only found in a couple of locations around the country.

The final question is, then, “How will people be able to redeem their RONC in return for cash?”