Taler (Cryptocurrency)

Taler (TLR) is a cryptocurrency launched in Belarus in September 2018. It was launched after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko issued a decree which made cryptocurrencies a legal payment method in the country. It is named after the medieval currency of thaler (taler).^[1][2][3] The first transaction was carried out on September 13, 2018 (between the creators). There is a cap placed on the number of talers issued: 23,333,000.^[4]

Taler is based on Lyra2z KDF, a modification of Lyra2.^[1] According to the developers, initially the code was based on Scrypt, but in mere two days after the announcement it was noticed that "professional" Litecoin miners started dominating Taler mining. Therefore it was decided to switch to an algorithm more protected from mining farms.^[5]

The initiators of the project are Sergey Lavrinenko, an IT expert, and Denis Lavnikevich, a journalist, an economic analyst. They considered it as a non-commercial project, spearheading the cryptotechnology in Belarus. ^[6][7] In February 2018 it was announced that the two quit the project.^[8][9]

Currently taler as a legal payment is in a hiatus because the legal base for Lukashenko's decree has not been developed yet. Lavrinkevich commented that judging from sparse comments the state business officials, they "are not very excited with cryptocurrencies".^[10] For now, it has become a payment method in the online micronation of Veyshnoria, officially registered as a game.^[11]

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