Two classic Volkswagen convertibles are the first vehicles to trade Ven as part of Hub Culture's new IOT and Object Payment Network.

In April, Hub Culture announced the expansion of the HubID digital identity system to include entities and objects, allowing members to launch unique profiles with embedded Ven digital currency accounts for new types of identities. In addition to virtual personas, artificial intelligence and other technology related profiles, the system allows for the creation of profiles and accounts related to objects, including vehicles, bicycles, boats and private airplanes.

Hub Culture recently purchased a classic 1974 Volkswagen Thing to be used as a courtesy shuttle at the Hub Culture Innovation Campus and Beach Club opening in May during the America s Cup and beyond in Bermuda. The new Object Payment System enabled Hub Culture to set up a digital currency account for the Volkswagen, and with the first payment sent to the vehicle, it became the first automobile in history to hold a digital currency.

Meanwhile, another Hub member in Bali owns a 1976 Volkswagen Safari, and they also set up an account for their vehicle in the network. Once the network profiles were active, it became possible for the Volkswagen in Bermuda to send 150 Ven to the Volkswagen in Bali, (worth about $15.00), marking the first time a vehicle issued a payment to another vehicle.

The transaction sets an important precedent for Ven related machine to machine payments using HubID digital identity profiles, and points the way toward automated payments and transactions among different types of machines. The technologies will come to fuller use in Bermuda this summer at the Innovation Campus, where visitors and guests will be able to settle all manner of bills at the Campus Beach Bar using a surfboard, boat, private airplane or vehicle as the wallet, with each machine capable of holding Ven and maintaining account balances.

Eventually such payments are expected to become automated, perhaps with help from Zeke, Hub Culture's fast growing artificial intelligence project.