Yesterday, Live Bitcoin News produced an article about how software engineer John McAfee was offering to produce a new cryptocurrency blockchain for Cuba so that it could escape tightening sanctions enforced by the U.S. and President Donald Trump. While the country has yet to take up McAfee’s offer, it looks like the country is beginning to examine the prospects of cryptocurrencies so that it may ease its present financial conundrum.
Cuba Considers Crypto to Survive
Since Trump took office in 2017, the country has been facing heavying sanctions that seek to tighten its current trade deals with the U.S. and other nations. Suffering financially, the country is now examining cryptocurrency-based technology to see how it could potentially offer relief.
Economy minister Alejandro Gil Fernandez explains:
We are studying the potential use of cryptocurrency… in our national and international commercial transactions, and we are working on that together with academics.
It is widely alleged that most cryptocurrencies will allow individuals and monetary parties to conduct transactions without revealing their identities. In other words, they can occur anonymously, and in the past, nations like Iran have sought crypto to get around “capital controls.” Cuba’s longtime ally Venezuela introduced the Petro in early 2018 as a means of meandering through U.S.-based sanctions, though the coin has failed to make any serious headway within the nation.
Now, Cuba’s state-run economy is failing thanks, in part, to its dying relationship with Venezuela, which is facing serious poverty, rising inflation, and the death of its national currency the bolivar. Venezuela can no longer provide the aid to Cuba it once did, and with America’s grip tightening everyday around the nation’s throat, it seems Cuba has finally given in and is examining crypto as a means of surviving.
The country is now introducing new measures that will provide stronger income for about one-quarter of Cuba’s population, according to a recent television spot. Crypto will also potentially be used to boost “national production and demand,” as the U.S. has long sought to put dampers on the country’s tourism industry.
Among the most popular schemes being introduced will be boosts in both wages and pensions for certain workers in administrative, media and social service positions. While the maneuver isn’t much and probably won’t make any serious change in the long run, several Cuban economists believe it’s a step in the right direction.
Help Workers, Help the Nation
Economist Omar Everleny explains:
For the first time, [the government] is linking the fact that everything can be achieved if workers are motivated.
In the meantime, John McAfee – who is currently on the run from IRS tax auditors – says he’s willing to help Cuba develop appropriate blockchain technology if it’s interested. McAfee hasn’t paid income taxes for the last eight years, and initially fled the U.S. to avoid trial.