Ford is partnering with cryptocurrency company Tether to let it know when the foreign currency is being used to convert a cryptocurrency into dollars.
Tether chief executive Terry Cho said in a statement that the company will now register its customers for crypto-passports. Its new policy is aimed at protecting the integrity of the Tether crypto-currency, which is backed by a reserve bank in South Korea and is pegged to the U.S. dollar, he said.
Ford’s global information security leader Chris Lee said in a statement that the automaker first started developing policy about crypto-passports last year. He said the customer data collected will not be used for marketing purposes or stolen by hackers.
Customers of Tether’s older rate changes, or Bits, can buy digital “kiosks” with their digital currencies.
Ford said the policy change doesn’t mean it is going out of its way to buy or sell Tether tokens.
Patent applications suggest that Ford is considering building its own digital currency, as has been reported.