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A normal reaction when looking for innovation centers is to go to Silicon Valley, Tokyo or New York. However, when we talk about adopting cryptocurrencies, over and over again, we are seeing smaller countries taking the torch. Next in line after Malta, Gibraltar, Lichtenstein and Switzerland is the Republic of the Marshall Islands, developing its own legal course called SOV.
SOV was announced in March last year and, unlike the pomp and rhetoric behind the Petro of Venezuela, SOV it is actually intended to improve the lives of people in the RMI. It is not "supported" by barrels of oil or by the main crops of the islands of coconuts or bananas. And now they are bringing the blockchain expert Steve Tendon on board.
An expert Blockchain to help develop SOV
Tendon was the strategic leader of Malta's National Task Force Blockchain advising the prime minister's office on blockchain policy. As CEO of BlockSchain consulting firm of ChainStrategies, he is the author of the Malta National Blockchain Strategy. This was approved by the Council of Ministers unanimously in April 2017.
In addition to the three laws that Malta approved last year by regulating the exchanges, the DLT, the cryptocurrency and the ICOs, the strategy defines six clear pillars to block the island from public registers to intelligent governance.
Source: https://chainstrategies.com
Tendon said Bitcoinist:
The SOV is important for a number of reasons … While other countries have tried or announced similar moves, none have actually succeeded. To succeed here means obtaining consensus both in the world of conventional financial markets and in the cryptic world.
This is because SOV will actually be a cryptocurrency, not a currency issued by the central bank. It will be based on blockchain technologies and not on centralized databases under a central authority.
He says tendon:
If successful, it would create a bridge between the conventional world of old money and the new world of encrypted money. It could become the onboarding cryptography platform that could see mass adoption by those who have not yet had the knowledge, the exposure or the opportunity to use cryptography.
Economy of the Marshall Islands
The SOV is also of greater importance for facing the pressing financial and environmental challenges that the country faces as an insular economy in the Pacific. Furthermore, the Marshall Islands will face a severe economic crisis in 2023, when financial aid from the United States ceases. The tendon explains:
The SOV could launch a thriving cryptic economy for the country.
There is also a humanitarian aspect in the project. The intent is to help the population of the Marshall Islands. This is something that Tendon comments that money from conventional legal tender money has never tried to reach.
Chief economist for SOV and former general secretary of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), dr. Peter Dittus said:
We are approaching each day to support the Marshall Islands with the issuance of the first digital legal tender currency and the launch of a financial services economy around it.
By opening up to the blockchain economy, the RMI plans not only help its people, but become something of a cryptic-financial power, setting a major global example.
What do you see the tendon in SOV?
Tendon explains that working to create Blockchain Island was certainly an exciting challenge. However, it became clear to him that a national currency such as SOV would never have been possible.
Why? Because Malta is a full member of the European Union and this imposes regulatory constraints. The Marshalls are probably one of the few places where you find both the necessary freedom and motivation to do something like that. If the SOV is successful it will have macroeconomic consequences, so it is a very ambitious undertaking.
This would be an advantage not only for the Marshall Islands themselves, but also for Malta and any other jurisdiction, organization or startup that engages in the development of new businesses in addition to blockchain technologies.
I see the SOV project as a great way to add even more value to what started in Malta. The two jurisdictions could cooperate effectively to create new opportunities, leveraging their respective strengths; and perhaps the entire cryptosphere would become stronger because of this.
What do you think of the Marshall Islands SOV initiative? Share your thoughts below!
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