Yes you read the title correctly, and no I haven't gone mad. This amazing country that is classed as being the poorest in Europe has a real possibility of becoming the richest country in the world, and I will explain my reasoning why.
With the dawn of cryptocurrency, the ability to move funds around the world easily and without the need of a third party (i.e. banks) has become hugely successful, and doesn't look like stopping. Obviously with technology like this, there are some unscrupulous people in the world, that will use it for their own advantages, unfortunately this goes for any new technology that has ever become available. As such with the beginning of people doing, it wasn't long until sceptics were saying, that cryptocurrency was purely for the illegal distribution of funds, you could probably put money on it that it was the bankers and politicians shouting this, as they weren't getting there own slice of the pie! So aside from the actual bankers and politicians themselves, there is a rising majority of people that believe, traditional banking is on it's way out, and should be replaced with a more modern system, along with one that does not rely on antiquated methods of funding. As the world knows from the worldwide recession, it was the bankers getting greedy, and basically screwing us all over, that led to the collapse, and now it is us the tax payer, that is having to pay for the privilege to keep the banks going, while they carry on screwing us over. That sounds completely insane doesn't it, paying for the privilege of being screwed!!! Something definitely doesn't sound right to me.
So some technologicially savvy criminals started using cryptocurrency as a way and means to move their money around, and unfortunately for them, they were caught, the investigation closed down an organised crime gang and involved 12 member states, and in the process of capturing these criminals, the Bulgarian authorities confiscated hundreds of thousands of Bitcoins, along with numerous other gang members property. Now if this had been back before the start of 2017, no one would really be shouting anything about it, but as we are towards the end of the year, and the meteoric rise of the value of Bitcoin, it has been noted that this stash of cryptocurrency could well be worth over $3.3 Billion and could pay off a fifth of the nations debt.
So you are probably thinking this is where my claim in the title is coming from, well you'd be wrong, so keep reading.
Now anyone who knows what cryptocurrency is, knows full well that if the Bulgarian government decides to sell all of their coins at once, then it has the potential to bring the price of Bitcoin crashing down, and would also mean that the Bulgarian government wouldn't get anywhere near the true value of the currency. All they have to do is look at what the muppets at the FBI did in America, they seized around 170,000 Bitcoins back in 2013 and then auctioned them off, rough estimates guess that they gave away roughly $1.5 Billion by not being smart with what they confiscated, compared to what they could have achieved, had they sold the coins off carefully, as I say muppets.
But Bulgaria could really learn from this and lead the way. As has been the case with Bulgaria on a number of points, Bulgaria keeps watching and learning from every other country, they see the pitfalls and mistakes made by others, and then know how to avoid them. Watching others screw up is definitely a good method for ensuring that you know what you are doing, but I believe that now is the time for Bulgaria to become first, and lead the way for other nations to be envious of. Firstly we have to assume that the government have the passwords and keys to the wallets the coins are stored in, if they don't well then good luck getting your hands on that money, but if they do, then they can really change the world, and here is how I think they could do it.
So where does my reasoning come from for the post title? You will have to bare with me, but once you have read through, I think that your will agree, that this really could become a reality. Let's say that the Bulgarian government does have access to the passwords, so in effect in some vault somewhere there is someone who can access this wealth. So if you can access the wealth you can use it right? Now Bulgaria is on a push to upgrade the country, mainly on improving the lifestyles for the people and the infrastructure, this is including the apartment blocks, new motorways, etc, etc. So that means that there are plenty of government contracts about. Now imagine for a second that the Bulgarian government only offers the contracts to companies that would accept Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies as a payment, which in turn could mean that the companies could pay their workers in crypto as well. Sound far fetched and unrealistic, well keep reading.
Currently there are some cryptocurrency atms in Bulgaria, and a few companies that accept cryptocurrency, but what if the Bulgarian government was to encourage the positioning of more and more crypto atms across the country, and make them mainstream. This is definitely plausible as there are only 6 million people living in the country, so a few well placed atms the rest could easily follow. This technology would soon become more attainable and with the large tourism industry both in the summer and winter seasons, at either end of the country, it would help to boost the industry, whilst encouraging the local businesses to accept the payment system as well, once this is done, then becoming mainstream would soon follow.
So a small country and the poorest region in Europe doesn't exactly scream high tech does it, well Bulgaria has some of the fastest internet speeds in Europe, so that is a good start, also Bulgaria has some of the lowest taxes in the whole of Europe as well, plus with more and more companies moving to the country because of these two reasons, there is a hugely experienced and highly skilled workforce that can easily work within the crypto sector. Currently the skilled workforce are of the same ability of any other country in the world, but at the moment they are significantly under paid in comparison to the rest of Europe. Bulgaria is an up and coming country, yes it will take time, but all good things do, and when you have a country that is constantly developing and upgrading, then new technology can not be far behind.
By offering to large crypto companies the ability to have a lower cost skilled workforce, low taxes and high speed internet, why wouldn't any up and coming crypto community want to be located in Bulgaria. Combine this with a diverse use of cryptocurrency through the atms and contracts with payment of crypto, it would endeavour to demonstrate to any tech company the ability and suitability of Bulgaria, coupled with the close ties to the European and Russian markets, Bulgaria would stand a chance of becoming a cryptocurrency silicon valley. Maybe I am shouting this a bit loud, but I for one would love to see Bulgaria do something with their wealth, rather than just pay a debt or sell it off.
If Bulgaria manages to do something useful with the crypto wealth that they currently hold, and the world continues the transition into using crypto over conventional banking methods, then Bulgaria could undoubtedly become the leading financial country in the world, and if this was to happen, then Bulgaria could indeed become the richest country in the world.
So do my claims sound so far fetched now, am I living in a dream world or wishful thinking, or like me do you wish that your country would do something like this. Bulgaria has the advantage over every other country in the world at the moment, as they have this cryptocurrency, and no other country has this sort of crypto wealth available to utilise.
Please feel free to leave the comments below, as I would love to hear people thoughts on this.
