In order to advance financial literacy in the Greater London region, Brian Rose also plans to launch a new cryptocurrency in London.

Brian Rose, an independent candidate for mayor of London and host of the London Real podcast, believes that blockchain-based voting methods could increase openness and public confidence in the electoral process.

Rose stated in a special interview with Cointelegraph:

"If voting was conducted on a blockchain, with an immutable record and true means of proving voter identification and vote, wouldn't it improve everyone's quality of sleep at night? This is the way of the future, and I believe it will require someone with my level of business experience and familiarity with blockchain technology.

public confidence in the electoral systems and political parties has taken a significant hit in recent years.

In 2023, only 12% of the public in the United Kingdom said they trusted political parties, down from 20% in 2022, according to a report by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published in March 2024.

Rose clarified that he still maintains confidence in the United Kingdom’s election system but sees great public benefits from introducing blockchain-based voting:

“I’m not implying that the U.K. voting system is not true, but the problem is that when humans are involved, sometimes things don’t go as planned. So we want to put voting on the blockchain.”

Beyond introducing an on-chain voting system, Rose also aims to make London more crypto innovation-friendly to restore its status as a leading global financial center. He said:

“[London] is not pro-crypto, whereas it used to be the greatest financial center in the world.”

The former Wall Street banker said that financial education is severely lacking in the country, which is why he aims to create a new London cryptocurrency and a financial education platform to empower citizens.

“Financial education is king. But the only way to do it is to do it now with blockchain […] I also want to create the London coin and get it into the hands of every man, woman and child in this city to finally create a system for financial education.”

While the details of the London token are still being finalized, Rose said that it will function as a regular cryptocurrency with price fluctuations and that it could be launched on the Polygon or Avalanche blockchains.

Rose plans to offer day-to-day utilities for the London crypto, including staking, payment of public transport, taxes and other public services.

Financial institutions would pay a 1% financial education tax for London coin

The independent mayoral candidate is planning to issue the London token to around 10 million people living in the Greater London area to incentivize users to learn about the intricacies of blockchain and crypto.

Large financial organisations with their headquarters in London would have to pay a 1% tax to help cover the costs:

"Any institution that has a global headquarters here behind me in the city of London will receive a 1% one-time financial education tax, which will be a liquidity pool that gets injected into The London Coin."

Rose stated that he had over $10 million invested in 40 different Web3 companies, which contributes to his high level of optimism on the possibilities of blockchain technology.