The US Postal Service and Bitcoin

March 4, 2014

Bitcoin cryptocurrency

The USPS has a long journey towards complete recovery from their financial foes but they are on that road. Just last year in 2013 the “USPS reported a net loss of $740 million in the third quarter, compared with a $1.9 billion loss in the previous quarter, a better-than-expected performance for the agency, which has been shackled by falling revenues and a Congressional mandate that requires it to annually pay billions of dollars into a health fund for future retirees.”- NY Times.  The andate-pushed-postal-service-into-the-red-for-first-quarter/” target=”_blank”>congressional mandate is but one among other setbacks to the struggling but improving agency.

In the beginning of the new year the postage rate hike was set in place and will continue to aid this economic deficit. But, how could the US Postal Service be linked to something like the Bitcoin crypto currency?

Well, the USPS Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently led a meeting to explore the applicability of the hotly debated currency to increase the agency’s revenue. During the meeting, high-ranking financial figures from the World Bank, and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago attended to listen and remark on the prospect. During this meeting not only was tapping into this new market seriously discussed but so was creating their own- the “Postcoin”. The “Postcoin” would be similar to the Bitcoin in that it would also be an abstract electronic currency but holds USPS-only value.

Although these discussions are truly preliminary they do show a glimmer of optimism with the agency’s willingness to sit down together and think outside of the box.

 

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