Don't Be Fooled: e-Krona Is Legit, But Not From a Certain Platform

Sweden and the EU have both been working diligently to create a digital and decentralized currency for the Swedish Krona, which led to the development of "e-Krona," but is it legit?

Setting its sights to leverage the technology of blockchain without compromising security associated with other cryptocurrencies, e-Krona expects to be the first digital currency used as collateral to borrow against the EU.

However, users should be mindful of the distinction between eKrona from eKrona.com and the e-Krona from Sweden's central bank, Sveriges Riksbank. The bank is doing a pilot study of a digital complement to cash—an e-Krona.

eKrona.com allegedly operates as an online cryptocurrency trading platform that allows users to make automated eKrona coin trades. The automation is due to a "cryptocurrency trading bot," which has a trading success rate of over 99 percent, according to the website.

The first thing to note about eKrona's website is that the accuracy and success rate of the trading bot aren't substantiated by any data or reports. The website doesn't contain any functional external sources to verify the information stated. Also, uncharacteristically to crypto, eKrona isn't volatile since the site alerts viewers when the "price is expected to rise."

eKrona.com isn't the same thing as the Riksbank's test pilot on the e-Krona, supported by Accenture. The pilot study based itself on a blockchain technology called Distributed Ledger Technology. However, there aren't solid decisions to the final form a Swedish central bank digital currency (CBDC) would take.

A sharp decrease in Sweden's physical form of currency has made it more difficult to use cash in certain parts of Swedish society. The Riksbank foresees potential issues with the marginalization of cash, which is why they developed the "e-Krona pilot study." The study served as a technical solution for a central bank digital currency, an "e-Krona," that can work as a complement to cash.

One of the goals of the e-Krona pilot study is to show the use cases of the e-Krona by the general public. In doing so, Riksbank would also be fulfilling its main aim with the project—to increase its overall knowledge of a central bank-issued digital krona.

It's also important to note that as of April, the pilot has still been undergoing research and consulted with banks regarding CBDCs with no conclusion for issuing an e-krona in Sweden yet.

In terms of legitimacy, the e-Krona pilot study from Riksbank is legitimate. Riksbank was testing the use-cases of the e-Krona and published the findings from phase one this past June. The main focus of the e-Krona pilot study was the understanding of CBDCs. The e-Krona doesn't exist yet as a tradable currency—especially from eKrona.com.

Key takeaways from phase one of the pilot study suggested further inquiry. Lessons taken away were that more investigation is needed to test the capacity and scaling of the blockchain along with "offline" functionality. A layer2 (L2) solution is necessary to enhance the infrastructure parallel to the current payment infrastructure.