Scotcoin and Kin - billed as Scotland’s only search engine and only cryptocurrency respectively - unveil new partnership

Scotland’s role in the crypo field takes a step forward, also aiming to contribute to the greater good.

Temple Melville, CEO of The Scotcoin Project CIC, says the new initiative provides 'a new constituency of people and charitable organisations to support'. Picture: contributed.

Two Scottish blockchain projects – billed respectively as Scotland’s only search engine and only cryptocurrency – have joined forces in a bid to expand their user bases, enhance their offering, and add to the use cases of their respective tokens as well as help benefit society.

Scotcoin (SCOT), which bills itself as an ethical cryptocurrency, will now be accepted on the Kin platform, operated by Better Internet Search, an ad-free, community-owned search engine developed in Scotland. Each new sign-up to Kin will receive SCOT and Kin-MPC tokens, and be able to donate to selected Scotcoin partners in the third sector.

Kin says it has grown from just 250 users to more than 3,250 in less than a year, while around 8,000 people own SCOT and 4,000 use Scotscan – the app that allows people to hold and transfer the token – following its redevelopment earlier this year.

The partnership comes ahead of Scotcoin’s eventual planned listing on a cryptocurrency exchange this year. The crypto venture is aiming to develop a wide network of third-sector organisations and preferred partners in the private sector that will accept the token in exchange for a range of goods and services – initially focused on food, clothing, and shelter.

Temple Melville, chief executive of The Scotcoin Project CIC, and an expert in and advocate for both the blockchain and decentralised currencies, said: “We have worked with the Better Internet Search team for a while now, and it is great to further develop our relationship through this partnership. We share similar ethical principles, and Kin’s user base is tech-savvy and already engaged in crypto, much like our own, so this initiative provides both projects with a new constituency of people and charitable organisations to support.”

Gordon Povey, founder and chief executive of Better Internet Search, added: "We are delighted to be collaborating with the Scotcoin project. Kin is Scotland’s only search engine and it makes sense for us to work with Scotland’s only cryptocurrency since we have a common goal of contributing to social good.”