Key Points
- Surinamese presidential candidate, Maya Parbhoe, plans to introduce Bitcoin as the national currency if elected.
- Slawomir Mentzen, chairman of Poland’s New Hope party, proposes a Bitcoin strategic reserve for Poland.
Maya Parbhoe, a young woman from Suriname running for the country’s presidency, is proposing the adoption of Bitcoin as the national currency. She believes a Bitcoin standard could be beneficial for Suriname and could help end systemic corruption.
Maya’s Vision for Suriname
Maya’s plans include dissolving the country’s central bank, established in 1957. She also wants to introduce free currency competition, especially since the Surinamese dollar (SRD) has seen inflation rates soaring above 50% in the last three years, only to drop below 20% in 2024.
Another part of her economic development agenda includes creating the world’s first blockchain-based capital market. She also aims to stimulate economic growth through the issuance of Bitcoin bonds.
Maya’s inspiration comes from El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who made Bitcoin legal tender in his country, and Switzerland, which has opened up free currency competition.
Global Acceptance of Bitcoin
There’s a growing trend of presidential candidates worldwide incorporating Bitcoin into their political and economic campaigns. This follows El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender and the U.S.’s proposal to make it part of their national strategic reserve.
One such figure is Slawomir Mentzen, chairman of Poland’s New Hope party. He has proposed the idea of a Bitcoin strategic reserve for Poland as part of his presidential campaign.
Mentzen was the first in Poland to suggest that municipal schools and offices should mine Bitcoin, a proposal made in 2018. Although this idea was deemed absurd at the time, Mentzen remains undeterred.
In a recent post, Mentzen stated, “Now I am running for president of Poland and propose that we should keep its currency reserves in Bitcoins. This may seem abstract to someone now, but in a few years it will turn out again that it was a completely obvious decision to make.”