Last week, a friend sent me a link that claimed the car company Fiat would reward buyers of its upcoming 500e electric vehicle with cryptocurrency for every mile they drove.
It sounded strange, so I looked into it. There were many articles in tech and auto publications saying the same thing:
The press release from Fiat’s parent company Stellantis also made a reference to the cryptocurrency, Kiricoin:
The partnership with Kiri enables Stellantis to achieve three world firsts in the automotive industry. First, the ability to collect a cryptocurrency simply by driving; second, giving access to an exclusive marketplace; finally, providing extra rewards for the highest eco:Scores.
Driving data, such as distance and speed, is uploaded to the Kiri cloud and automatically converted into KiriCoins, using an algorithm devised by Kiri. The result is downloaded directly to the user’s smartphone and the KiriCoins can then be used to purchase products and services in the Kiri marketplace.”
– Stellantis press release
That sounds highly limiting.
Now I couldn’t find Kiricoin on any major crypto exchange.
Nor could I find any reference to it being listed anywhere. So I read through Kiricoin’s own website:
It turns out that Kiri itself doesn’t make any reference to itself as a cryptocurrency.
It’s a simple, light website that describes a private currency for ‘ green merchants’ to provide ‘exclusive offers’ to the ‘Kiri community’ – in other words, a private currency closed wallet.
Kiri is being honest here.
It’s amusing, if a little disappointing to see how every reporter on single news article about Fiat and the 500e simply parroted the ‘cryptocurrency’ angle without actually verifying it.
Or questioned why a cryptocurrency’s even needed for something so centralised.
The next decade will be fun as we see more brands riding on the crypto wave in name only.