Bitcoin Can Free Puerto Rico

This is an sentiment editorial by Michael Markle, a subordinate of the San Juan BitDevs meetup.

Puerto Rico has seen it all, from currency devaluations, confiscation of wealth, natural disasters, colonizers and fights for independence, each successful little than 100 years. Before that, Pedro Albizu Campos fought for Puerto Rico to person its ain identity, its ain independency and its ain sovereignty.

But present the satellite has a decentralized wealth that tin supply Puerto Rico with the independency and individuality that it has been starved for and deserves.

The History Of Currency In Puerto Rico

In 1889, Puerto Rico suffered a 40% currency devaluation, crippling the Puerto Rican economy. This was caused by the United States mounting up the American Colonial Bank and declaring the U.S. dollar arsenic ineligible tender (the authoritative money) of Puerto Rico, changing it from the peso.

However, successful 1899, 1 peso was lone worthy 60 cents, meaning the section businesses of Puerto Rico and its citizens lost 40% of their nett worths overnight from causes wholly extracurricular of their control. This resulted successful Puerto Ricans, attempting to prevention their nett worths, borrowing wealth from the American Colonial Bank. However, precocious involvement rates made it precise improbable that locals were going to beryllium capable to wage backmost their loans, causing galore Puerto Ricans to default connected their debt. The effect was that the slope seized their assets (in these days, typically their land).

The Response From The United States Central Bank In 2020

This illustration represents each of the dollars successful the U.S. and Puerto Rican economy. Source: M2 (M2SL), FRED, St. Louis Fed (stlouisfed.org).

Puerto Rico uses the U.S. dollar arsenic its ineligible tender and is susceptible to the consequences of reckless monetary policy, including the enlargement of this wealth proviso (inflation), and has already experienced large currency devaluation (as noted above). Looking astatine the 2020 conception of the illustration above, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States cardinal bank printed astir 20% of the full dollars circulating successful the economy, flooding the marketplace with dollars. Money printing has devastating consequences connected section economies, particularly for lower- and middle-income families. Money printing results successful a wider wealthiness spread with goods and services becoming much expensive. Home prices and nutrient prices successful Puerto Rico are rapidly increasing.

The Legacy Of Pedro Albizu Campos

Who was Pedro Albizu Campos? A antheral who valued quality freedoms, the close to privacy, aforesaid sovereignty, independency and prosperity.

He grew up successful the Machuelo Abajo conception of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Incredibly good educated, Campos graduated from a top-tier schoolhouse successful the United States and could talk six languages. He was that guy, helium led by example, showed up each time to lead, instilled values, dreamed large and provided inclusiveness careless of people oregon status. He was a existent antheral of the people, who understood the powerfulness wrong others, recognizing that they don’t request to beryllium babelike connected anyone else.

During his time, his absorption successful peculiar was Puerto Rico’s state and independence. Understanding the in-depth past of Puerto Rico is important to knowing wherefore helium chose this focus. If Alibuzu Campos was live today, helium would beryllium a Bitcoiner. I promote everyone to work the “War Against All Puerto Ricans” by Nelson A. Denis for the afloat story.

Banking The Unbanked

Puerto Rico has astir 3.2 cardinal residents and galore are estimated to person 36% of its colonisation unbanked.

Photo credit: Javi Cintron

When individuals don’t person entree to due banking oregon fiscal services, the implications are devastating. Bitcoin not lone allows anyone to unfastened a slope account, it allows anyone to go their ain banker.

Why Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is:

• Decentralized: Bitcoin is the archetypal signifier of wealth successful the past of quality beingness that is not controlled by immoderate individual, corp oregon government.
• Open: Bitcoin allows anyone to enactment successful the network. It doesn’t admit race, borders, religions oregon immoderate taste identities. On a deeper level, it doesn’t adjacent admit humans oregon age.
• Permissionless: Bitcoin doesn’t necessitate support from a authorities oregon 3rd enactment to prevention oregon transact value, meaning that the lone participants successful a fiscal transaction are the senders and receivers. No banks, PayPals, Venmos, ATH Móvil, etc. are involved. You don’t request support to unfastened a savings account.
• Unconfiscatable: With Bitcoin, your wealthiness is protected for generations to come. This is made imaginable by encrypted keys (passwords) that lone you whitethorn know. It cannot beryllium frozen, seized oregon stolen from you. If you dice without a contingency plan, your bitcoin volition dice with you and can’t ever beryllium spent.
• Transparent: Bitcoin’s transaction ledger is disposable to anyone astatine immoderate time. Issuance of the currency is known and cannot beryllium changed. Bitcoin’s web audits the ledger each 10 minutes to guarantee each participants are operating wrong the rules of the network.
• Absolute Scarcity: Bitcoin has implicit scarcity. Only 21 cardinal bitcoin volition ever exist. Bitcoin can’t beryllium replicated, duplicated, counterfeited oregon treble spent. Bitcoin is the cleanable portion of account.
• Growth In The Future: Bitcoin allows Puerto Ricans to go individually sovereign. Bitcoin separates wealth from the powerfulness of the State, conscionable arsenic critically arsenic the separation of the church from the authorities was successful the 18th century, which led to the large enlightenment. We can’t trust connected systems of spot successful individuals, institutions oregon governments to person power implicit our fiscal destiny. Bitcoin is trustless — verify everything.

Love For Puerto Rico

My inspiration to constitute this portion came from not lone being a bitcoiner but from being a section of Puerto Rico. I emotion the people, the communities and the values that are instilled successful this island.

Puerto Rico offers an Act 60 decree for concern and individuals who tin determination signifier the United States to the land and found businesses there, which enables them not to wage immoderate superior gains taxes and lone a 4% income taxation arsenic agelong arsenic they walk 51% of their clip successful Puerto Rico.

Now, to beryllium clear, Act 60 provides tremendous worth to Puerto Rico and should beryllium embraced. However, connected the contrary, Act 60 besides provides an unfastened invitation to atrocious actors and scammers who tin locomotion distant from their scams successful the signifier of failed projects/businesses without taxation implications. During the 2021 crypto bull market, I saw personally that Puerto Rico became a cesspool of individuals who launched cryptocurrency projects and marketed their questionable fiscal innovations to mundane investors, lone to locomotion distant from the projects with ample sums of investors’ money, burning those who invested with funds earned from moving existent jobs that provided existent benefits to the world. There are countless examples of this, which supply discourse and makes it understandable arsenic to wherefore galore locals whitethorn person resentment toward cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin is not crypto, Bitcoin is not a Ponzi scheme, Bitcoin is not an idiosyncratic nor company, Bitcoin is not an Act 60 beneficiary, Bitcoin is not colonialism, Bitcoin is not instilled by the government. Bitcoin is money, Bitcoin is freedom, Bitcoin is independence, Bitcoin allows each Puerto Rican to person the idiosyncratic prosperity that galore locals person defended and died for.

Bitcoin is Puerto Rico’s accidental to person an autarkic individuality portion allowing its citizens to beryllium 100% aforesaid sovereign. Adapting a bitcoin modular would supply tremendous payment for places similar Puerto Rico. Learn what bitcoin is, amended others, go individually sovereign and commencement gathering the Puerto Rico your ancestors envisioned.

This is simply a impermanent station by Michael Markle. Opinions expressed are wholly their ain and bash not needfully bespeak those of BTC Inc oregon Bitcoin Magazine.