This month, Bitcoin hit a record value of over £3,492 – having soared over the past 12 months with one coin now exceeding the price of an ounce of gold.
But while the currency involves a complicated mining process, Solarcoin has a much easier way of being collected.
The solar power digital currency works like a reward programme for households or businesses who choose to go green.
Anyone with solar panels can get a coin for each megawatt hour of electricity they generate.
Users send scans of verified meter readings, which are checked by volunteers, and the coins then dispersed into their online wallet.
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Although the currency is only valued at about 18 cents, up from 6 cents at the beginning of the year, founders’ ambitions are big.
If all goes well, supporters hope the value could go up as high as €20 to €30 per coin once the number of solar power installations registered to the network grows.
François Sonnet, an advisor to the SolarCoin project who is also co-founder of ElectriCChain, said: “The idea is to create a global network of solar installations so that people can start using this digital asset as a means to buy, trade and sell goods and services into this currency.”
The project, which started in 2014, set a maximum limit of 97.5 billion SolarCoins up for grabs over the next 40 years.
So far, only around 240,000 Solarcoins, worth a total of about €43,000, have gone to solar power producers in 39 countries.
A few businesses have even suggested they will accept Solarcoin, meaning users can shop online from stores that partner with the project or even trade them for dollars, pounds or other currencies on Lykke Exchange.
But so far the uptake is small, and t is not simple to register for the currency.
However users who signed up early to the scheme believe it could be the next big thing.
Johan De Beugher, a Belgian investing in SolarCoins, said: “It’s the future. I’m sure of it.
“Because it’s free and because it’s ecological.”