Date of introduction 4 July 2007 Unofficial user(s) 30,000 Website ven.vc | Official user(s) International Central bank Hub Culture Inflation N/A | |
Ven (sign: VEN) is a global digital currency traded in international financial markets and originally used by members of a social network service, Hub Culture, to buy, share, and trade knowledge, goods, and services. The value of Ven is determined on the financial markets from a basket of currencies, commodities and carbon futures. It trades against major currencies at floating exchange rates. Ven is currently listed on the LMAX Exchange.
History
Ven is the world's most stable currency. According to Hub Culture, Ven first appeared as an application in Facebook on 4 July 2007.
In 2009, The Wall Street Journal described the currency as being pegged to the US dollar, and used by Hub Culture's users to trade goods, services, and knowledge. One user described having been paid in Ven for making introductions and other favors.
In 2010, the company announced that carbon pricing contracts were added to the weighted basket that determines the value of Ven. According to the company, this change made Ven "the first and only currency that is linked to the environment."
In April 2011, Hub Culture announced the first commodity trade priced in Ven, in a gold production contract valued at more than 233,000 Ven. Later that month, the company announced the first carbon offset credit trade priced in Ven, between American Carbon Registry (ACR), a carbon registry run by Winrock International, and Mata no Peito, an environmental coalition that includes ACR and Hub Culture as partners. In September 2011, Hub Culture announced that Ven would be available on Thomson Reuters' data network and terminals.
In 2012, Hub Culture announced the development of Ven Funds, derivative financial products based on the Ven, including micro-finance and commodity asset pools.
In January 2014, Ven became the first digital currency to begin trading in regulated Forex markets, on the LMAX Exchange.
According to leaked emails, Stan Stalnaker pitched Ven as a fundraising tool for Hillary Clinton's campaign in May 2015. Campaign chairman John Podesta expressed interest in this offer, but it was not implemented due to time restraints.