The Einsteinium Foundation is the world’s first non-profit organisation to be backed by cryptocurrency. Unlike other cryptocurrency projects out there, Einsteinium (EMC2) didn’t start out with an ICO but through a foundation. Its mission is to fund ongoing scientific research and charitable projects, as well as developing the Einsteinium digital currency.

In its own words, the foundation says:

Einsteinium is helping fund science projects around the globe since funding for science and ‘big ideas’ has fallen over recent years.

Governments globally seem to be allocating fewer funds to innovation, and foundations like Einsteinium are picking up the slack.

Einsteinium grants awards to worthy projects

Perhaps one of the most notable things about Einsteinium is that it grants awards to projects by merit rather then location or traction.

In line with the very ethos of Bitcoin and crowdfunding technology, anyone can apply for a grant and there are “no restrictions” on who applies.

That’s not to say that anyone will receive funding, of course. Projects must be scientific in nature and show excellent potential for furthering our understanding or knowledge of a certain area.

The emphasis is on sustainability. So projects that are all about helping us build a safer, brighter future take front and centre.

Einsteinium (EMC2) cryptocurrency

Einsteinium’s cryptocurrency EMC2 is open source and uses a Proof-of-Work algorithm similar to Bitcoin. The main use of EMC2 is for funding science projects. However, people are also considering it for political fundraising and charitable donations.

Its genesis block was mined on March 1st 2014. The total mineable supply of EMC2 is 245,465,283.

Mining is divided into what the foundation calls “epochs”. Each epoch mines 3,600 blocks and lasts for around 25 days.

All EMC2 coins will be in circulation by 2064. By which point, a fork is anticipated that will create a new governance system and a natural inflation level of 2%, effectively making EMC2 a global stable currency.

Why governments are looking at EMC2

Governments are looking at EMC2 due to its unique nature. A key element to its design is its ability to create a 2.5% mining tax.

As EMC2 coins are mined, 2.5% is automatically sent to the Einsteinium Foundation. Of this, 2% is donated to science projects and 0.5% is held back for operational costs of the foundation.

Since Einsteinium is a public blockchain and fully transparent, all transactions are recorded and users can verify the correct appropriation of funds.

This ability for a cryptocurrency to collect taxes automatically could be extremely interesting to governments who could use the EMC2 cryptocurrency as a template for a national cryptocurrency.

The US Federal Reserve, for example, could use a national cryptocurrency to collect taxes on every coin minted. Every time a transaction happens, the government would benefit from its in-built tax algorithm.

Clearly, there’s a long way to go until a tax collecting cryptocurrency becomes a reality. It will certainly come up against its fair share of criticism over privacy and surveillance, and accountants, tax lawyers, and anyone working in this industry will naturally oppose the idea.

Yet beyond benefitting science projects, Einsteinium could actually help to put an end to one of the largest sources of political corruption around the world – particularly when it comes to large corporations and high-income individuals who have a tendency towards tax evasion.

Once people work their heads around a self-taxing currency, they may actually find that the reduction in bureaucracy and stress surrounding tax season would be welcomed.

Still, its mission remains to benefit science projects

There are plenty of aspects that make Einsteinium so interesting, including its compatibility with the Lightning Network. But let’s not forget its founding mission: to further scientific research around the world.

So far, some of the key projects that Einsteinium has funded are a cancer study by Dr Walter Moss, an investigation into diabetes by Dr Theresa O’Keefe from Mend Therapeutics, and a crowdfunding platform to help finance a sleep study by Dr Robbert Havekes.

Wrapping it up

Einsteinium is making a real difference in benefitting science projects around the globe. The use of its tax-collecting cryptocurrency could be adopted in other industries as well. With a solid foundation at its core, it will be interesting to see in how many ways Einsteinium takes off.

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