This is an opinion editorial by Michael Markle, a member of the San Juan BitDevs meeting.
Puerto Rico has seen it all, from currency devaluations, confiscation of wealth, natural disasters, colonizers Y struggles for independence, all in less than 100 years. Before, Pedro Albizu Campos He fought for Puerto Rico to have its own identity, its own independence, and its own sovereignty.
But now the world has decentralized money that can give Puerto Rico the independence and identity it has been hungry for and deserves.
The history of the currency in Puerto Rico
In 1889Puerto Rico suffered a 40% currency devaluation, paralyzing the Puerto Rican economy. This was caused by the creation of the American Colonial Bank by the United States and the declaration of the US dollar as legal tender (the official money) of Puerto Rico, exchanging it from the peso.
However, in 1899, a peso was only worth 60 centsthat is, the local businesses of Puerto Rico and its citizens he lost 40% of his net worth overnight for reasons totally out of your control. This resulted in Puerto Ricans, trying to save their net worth, borrow money from American Colonial Bank. However, high interest rates made it highly unlikely that locals would be able to repay their loans, causing many Puerto Ricans to default on their debts. The result was that the bank seized his assets (these days, typically his land).
The response of the Central Bank of the United States in 2020
This graph represents all the dollars in the economy of the United States and Puerto Rico. Source: M2 (M2SL), FRED, St. Louis Fed (stlouisfed.org).
Puerto Rico uses the US dollar as legal tender and is vulnerable to the consequences of reckless monetary policy, including expansion of this money supply (inflation), and has already experienced significant currency devaluation (as noted above). . Looking at the 2020 section of the graph above, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the central bank of the United States printed around 20% of the total dollars circulating in the economy, flooding the market with dollars. Printing money has devastating consequences for local economies, especially for low- and middle-income families. The printing of money results in a wider wealth gap with increasingly expensive goods and services. Housing prices and food prices in Puerto Rico are rising rapidly.
The legacy of Peter Albizu Fields
Who was Pedro Albizu Campos? A man who valued human freedoms, the right to privacy, self-sovereignty, independence and prosperity.
grew up in the Tap Down section of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Incredibly well educated, Campos graduated from a top-ranked school in the United States and could speak six languages. He was that guy, he led by example, showed up every day to lead, instilled values, dreamed big and provided inclusion regardless of class or status. He was a true man of the people, who understood the power within others, recognizing that they need not depend on anyone else.
During his time, his particular focus was the freedom and independence of Puerto Rico. Understanding the deep history of Puerto Rico is crucial to understanding why she chose this approach. If Alibuzu Campos were alive today, he would be a Bitcoiner. I encourage everyone to read the “War against all Puerto Ricansby Nelson A. Denis for the full story.
Banking for the unbanked
Puerto Rico has about 3.2 million inhabitants and it is estimated that many have 36% of its population unbanked.
Photo credit: Javi Cintron
When people do not have access to adequate banking or financial services, the consequences are devastating. Bitcoin not only allows anyone to open a bank account, but also allows anyone to become their own banker.
Why Bitcoin?
Bitcoin is:
- Decentralized: Bitcoin is the first form of money in the history of human existence that is not controlled by any individual, corporation, or government.
- Open: Bitcoin allows anyone to participate in the network. It does not recognize race, borders, religions or any cultural identity. On a deeper level, he doesn’t even recognize humans or age.
- without permission: Bitcoin does not require permission from a government or a third party to store or transact value, which means that the only participants in a financial transaction are the senders and receivers. Without banks, PayPal, Venmos, ATH Mobile, etc are involved. You do not need permission to open a savings account.
- Unconfisfiable: With Bitcoin, your wealth is protected for generations to come. This is possible thanks to encrypted keys (passwords) that only you can know. It cannot be frozen, seized or stolen. If you die without a contingency plan, your bitcoin will die with you and can never be spent.
- Transparent: The Bitcoin transaction book is available to anyone at any time. The issue of the coin is known and cannot be changed. The Bitcoin network audits the ledger every 10 minutes to ensure that all participants are operating within the rules of the network.
- absolute scarcity: Bitcoin is in absolute scarcity. There will only be 21 million bitcoins. Bitcoin cannot be replicated, duplicated, counterfeited, or double-spent. Bitcoin is the perfect unit of account.
- Future growth: Bitcoin allows Puerto Ricans to become individually sovereign. Bitcoin separates money from state power, just as critically as the separation of government church was in the 18th century, which led to the great illumination. We cannot depend on systems of trust in individuals, institutions or governments to have control over our financial destiny. Bitcoin is unreliable – check everything.
love for Puerto Rico
My inspiration to write this article came not only from being a bitcoiner but also from being a local from Puerto Rico. I love the people, the communities and the values that are instilled in this island.
Puerto Rico offers a decree law 60 for companies and individuals who can move from the United States to the island and establish businesses there, allowing them to pay no capital gains tax and only 4% income tax as long as they spend 51% of their time In Puerto Rico.
Now, to be clear, Law 60 provides tremendous value to Puerto Rico and must be adopted. However, to the contrary, Law 60 also provides an open invitation to bad guys and scammers who can walk away from their scams in the form of failed projects/businesses without tax implications. During the 2021 cryptocurrency bull market, I personally saw Puerto Rico become a cesspool of people launching cryptocurrency projects and marketing their questionable financial innovations to everyday investors, only to steer clear of big-money projects from investors, burning those who invested with funds earned from working real jobs that provided real benefits to the world. There are countless examples of this, providing context and making it understandable why many locals might resent cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin is not crypto, Bitcoin is not a Ponzi scheme, Bitcoin is not an individual or a company, Bitcoin is not a beneficiary of Law 60, Bitcoin is not colonialism, Bitcoin is not inculcated by the government. Bitcoin is money, Bitcoin is freedom, Bitcoin is independence, Bitcoin allows each Puerto Rican to have the individual prosperity that many locals have defended and died for.
Bitcoin is Puerto Rico’s opportunity to have an independent identity while allowing its citizens to be 100% sovereign. Adapting a bitcoin standard would provide a tremendous benefit for places like Puerto Rico. Learn about bitcoin, educate others, become an individual sovereign, and start building the Puerto Rico your ancestors envisioned.
This is a guest post by Michael Markle. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
