First Freight Deal Done in Cryptocurrency

The Prime Shipping Foundation became the first organization to invoice freight in cryptocurrency in December 2017.

The invoice was for about 3,000 metric tons of Russian wheat shipped on a vessel from Rostov-on-Don, Russia to Samsun, Turkey, the foundation said.

The Prime Shipping Foundation, formed by Gibraltar-based Quorum Capital Ltd and shipping broker Interchart LLC, added it was working on transforming the way payments are handled in the industry. Prime is currently working with financial institutions to close the gap between fiat currency and cryptocurrencies.

The company aims to cement its position as a “handler of crypto-assets” and it has initiated the procedure to file documents for their banking license in Gibraltar, one of the most crypto-friendly jurisdictions.

“As the shipping industry is mostly using the United States Dollar for freight payment and bunkering services, the Prime team developed a complex ecosystem to allow rapid and near-lossless transactions between major fiat currencies and major cryptocurrencies,” the foundation said.

The system uses the so-called PRIME Token and it is in its pre-ICO stage with the main ICO planned for mid-2018.

“The Prime Crypto Bank will become the interface between the online world and the real world, allowing a gradual adoption for the shipping industry, without compromising the benefits the new era brings,Ivan Vikulov, CEO of the Prime Shipping Foundation, said.