A group behind plans for a floating island in the Pacific has given up on a cryptocurrency it planned to build the project's economy on.
A concept design for the world's first floating town, in French Polynesia Photo: Supplied / Blue Frontiers
Blue Frontiers said it was still in talks with government officials in French Polynesia who it says are enthusiastic about a seastead, or floating city, in the territory.
But it has had to issue refunds for Varyon, the cryptocurrency it minted one billion units of to power the economies of any seasteads.
A public presale for Varyon in July raised around $US600,000 worth of the cryptocurrency Ethereum.
In a statement, Blue Frontiers said after some delays it had decided not to launch a risky and time consuming cryptocurrency.
"Varyon may remain an integral part of our ecosystem and the reserves held by Blue Frontiers may be sold or distributed at a later date," it said.
Previously, the plans had been to place a floating city in Tahiti, but talks between Blue Frontiers and the government are now centring on finding a suitable location off the coast of another island or atoll, said Lauren Tincher, head of marketing for the group.
