Cryptocurrency is in its infancy. Even so, we are witnessing a groundswell of interest and involvement in the space. There are conferences, hackathons, and workshops held on the regular. Banks are even dipping their toes, however shyly, into the crypto-sphere. We want to bring that to Puerto Rico.
Although we are far from universal adoption of even the first cryptocurrency, bitcoin, significant inroads have been made in e-commerce and brick and mortar merchant adoption. We want to help bring that to Puerto Rico.
When it comes to Puerto Rico, technology and innovation aren’t always what comes to mind. Usually, it’s thought of as a vacation spot — with its beaches and other natural attractions. However, there is a burgeoning technology sector that is capable of building solutions for the new era of blockchains and cryptocurrencies.
At the moment, Puerto Rico is gripped by fiscal uncertainty, and is being governed largely by the Fiscal Control Board. With more than forty percent of Puerto Ricans on the island living under the poverty line, there are hundreds of thousands of people without access to traditional banking. Cryptocurrency adoption would help the unbanked and keep funds safe from any potential capital controls.
A Unique Opportunity
Puerto Rico is in political limbo. We are an unincorporated territory of the United States, beholden to a Congress in which we have no vote, and to a President we didn’t elect. In the future, we may become a state of the Union, or the newest independent country of the world. In either case, we will need a new framing document for governance.
Should we become a state, our laws will still be superseded by Congress, but we will have representation — and if we act now, by the time we are admitted to the Union, cryptocurrency could be interwoven into our culture and politics such that we could be the most crypto-progressive state.
Should we become independent, however, with enough education and outreach it’s possible that we may never establish a national bank, opting instead for a national crypto-currency.
Too lofty?
With a population density of 1,055 people per square mile, we would be the second densest state after New Jersey. This amplifies network effects, increasing the pace of adoption. All we need is to make the effort.
Puerto Crypto is a grassroots initiative conceived as a video podcast where we will be spotlighting merchants who accept bitcoin — helping new ones do the same — and educating the general public and developers about the opportunities available to those who venture into the new world of crypto.
We aim to create social pressure for the adoption of cryptocurrency through branding, education, and exposure. In ten years, systems world-wide could be in need of crypto-engineers to maintain blockchain and other infrastructure based on the innovations of the cryptocurrency space. By then, the island of Puerto Crypto will be an integral part of the solution.