Why care homes are launching their own cryptocurrency
Bitcoin-like digital token intended to help residents invest in their rooms in ‘timeshare’-style scheme

A care home chain has launched a bitcoin-inspired cryptocurrency designed to let residents pay for their rooms without having to worry about carrying cash.
Under the scheme, created by care services firm Carlauren Group, residents can buy “C-Coins” at a rate of £70 each, the price of one night in a Carlauren care home or resort, separate from the costs of care, the BBC reports.
The company says it guarantees to buy back coins at £63 each, to avoid the usual risks associated with investing in a cryptocurrency.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The scheme is being billed as a way for elderly residents and their children to invest in the rooms - “a kind of timeshare scheme which would then be tradable because the coins could be sold on an exchange”, the broadcaster adds.
Residents can buy into the scheme with a minimum investment of 100 coins, equating to £7,000, reports cryptocurrency news site Coin Rivet. The maximum buy-in is capped at 500 tokens, or £35,000.
Unlike major cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and Ethereum, which are purchased using public exchanges, C-Coins can be bought and sold only through the Carlauren Exchange online facility.
Troup’s chief executive, Sean Murray, says he believes “that blockchain technology will revolutionise how the world will transact and exchange”.
“However, I am conscious that cryptocurrencies have received a bad press recently, so we have taken extensive measures to ensure the C-Coin is the best possible safe solution for all investors,” he added.
But BBC technology correspondent Rory Cellan-Jones argues that questions remain over the virtual currency’s usability.
Cellan-Jones claims that “anyone can sign up to buy coins, with no apparent checks”, meaning outside investors could buy several coins in the hope of turning a profit when all 500,000 of the tokens sell out.
The Competition and Markets Authority also sounded a note of warning. The watchdog said it could not comment on any particular case but told the BBC: “Requiring care home residents to pay for goods or services in cryptocurrency may raise potential consumer protection concerns.”
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
July 1 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Tuesday’s political cartoons include woke fireworks, a new slogan for the Statue of Liberty, and birthright citizenship hanging by a thread.
-
Bitcoin braces for a quantum computing onslaught
IN THE SPOTLIGHT The cryptocurrency community is starting to worry over a new generation of super-powered computers that could turn the digital monetary world on its head.
-
The noise of Bitcoin mining is driving Americans crazy
Under the Radar Constant hum of fans that cool data-centre computers is turning residents against Trump's pro-cryptocurrency agenda
-
What Trump's win could mean for Big Tech
Talking Points The tech industry is bracing itself for Trump's second administration
-
Network states: the tech broligarchy who want to create new countries
Under The Radar Communities would form online around a shared set of 'values' and acquire physical territory, becoming nations with their own laws
-
Paraguay's dangerous dalliance with cryptocurrency
Under The Radar Overheating Paraguayans are pushing back over power outages caused by illegal miners
-
2023: the year of crypto instability
The Explainer Crypto reached peaks — and valleys — throughout 2023
-
Sam Bankman-Fried found guilty: where does crypto go from here?
Today's Big Question Conviction of the 'tousle-haired mogul' confirms sector's 'Wild West' and 'rogue' image, say experts
-
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrested in the Bahamas
Speed Read