It may sound like baloney, but American meat maker Oscar Mayer has entered the cryptocurrency space - sort of.
The company announced on Monday the unveiling of "Bacoin," which it is calling "The first-ever cryptocurrency backed by the gold standard of Oscar Mayer Bacon."
With the initiative, Oscar Mayer is offering bacoins as a kind of incentive to get users promoting the brand's meat products on social media and email.
Through the company's official website, users "Mine" bacoins that become worth more - denominated by slices of bacon - as consumer awareness is increased.
Accompanying the campaign is a new commercial pitching the bacoin.
Bacoins can then be cashed out by customers for real packs of bacon, according to the company.
As of press time, the value of a single bacoin is worth three slices of the company's bacon, according to its official price tracker.
"Oscar Mayer is the gold standard of bacon because of our dedication to hand-selecting the best cuts and then naturally sugar curing and naturally hardwood smoking our bacon," the company's brand manager, Matt Riezman said in a statement.
With the move, the 130-year-old Oscar Mayer becomes the latest food company to jump on the cryptocurrency branding bandwagon.
CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups.
Bring Home the Bacoin? Oscar Mayer Debuts Crypto Campaign
Published on Apr 30, 2018
by Coindesk | Published on Coinage
Coinage
Recent News
View All
First Mover: What's Next for Bitcoin as Wall Street Gets Vaccine Booster
Bitcoin was higher for a second day, staying in a range of between roughly $15,200 and $15,600, as news of progress in developing a coronavirus vaccine appeared to touch off a rally in U.S. stocks.
Market Wrap: Bitcoin Fails to Break $15.9K; Over 50K ETH Staked on Eth 2.0 Contract
Bitcoin gained Wednesday while Ethereum 2.0 staking has been ramping up.
Citibank Analyst Says Bitcoin Could Pass $300K by December 2021
A senior analyst at U.S.-based financial giant Citibank has penned a report drawing on similarities between the 1970s gold market and bitcoin.
Blockchain Bites: Data Unions. Hard Forks. And One Citi Analyst's Case for $300K BTC.
A Citibank managing director thinks bitcoin could hit $318,000.