Hilda C. Heine, president of the islands, said: "This is a historic moment for our people, finally issuing and using our own currency."

The Marshall Islands, a collection of more than 1,100 islands and atolls between Hawai'i and Australia, will become the first nation to issue a legal currency that's also distributed and exchanged as a cryptocurrency.

Hilda C. Heine, president of the islands, said: "This is a historic moment for our people, finally issuing and using our own currency." | Photo: @President_Heine

Hilda C. Heine, president of the islands, said: "This is a historic moment for our people, finally issuing and using our own currency, alongside the U.S. (dollar). It is another step of manifesting our national liberty."

The U.S. dollar is the islands' official currency, but parliament passed a law on Wednesday declaring that its new currency, called the Sovereign or SOV, will also be made available as a digital coin, according to The Telegraph.

Heine noted that investments in SOV will be used to support policies aimed at combatting climate change and those supporting "green energy, healthcare for those still affected by the U.S. nuclear tests, and education. In addition, SOV units will be directly distributed to citizens."

Residents of the Marshall Islands will receive a free allocation of the Initial Currency Offering of the Sovereign after its launch, which is expected later this year.

Between 1946 and 1958, the United States dropped 67 nuclear bombs on the Marshall Islands as part of a series of military and scientific tests.

The most powerful, displacing the entire population of Bikini Atoll due to elevated radiation levels, was 'Bravo Shot' on March 1, 1954. The detonation was 1,000 times more potent than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima and has rendered the island uninhabitable.