Paying a Small Country to Make Bitcoin an ADITIONAL Official Currency

[phelix]

There is no need for the country or the citizens of the country to do even a single Bitcoin tx.

*cough*

Still waiting...

 

There is no need for the country or the citizens of the country to do even a single Bitcoin tx.

So you want to sell the gold bitcoin standard to a country?

Nahh it would be completely independent from the normal currency.

[surebet]

There is no need for the country or the citizens of the country to do even a single Bitcoin tx.

So you want to sell the gold bitcoin standard to a country?

Nahh it would be completely independent from the normal currency.

So, bitcoin would be the official currency of the country, but not used by the people, because they keep using whatever they're using?

[Suushi]

It would be fun idea, but.. how they would use those bitcoins ?
Everybody would have debit cards or stuff like that?

[virtualmaster]

We can make a new one and call it Bitcoinia or Bitcoinistan.
 

[Spendulus]

http://geography.about.com/cs/countries/a/smallcountries.htm

There are recognized countries that have only 13,000 - 50,000 citizens. Imagine we can gather 1BTC from each of 100,000 Bitcoin believers. That would be quite some money for a small country that does not happen to be tax haven.

In Germany Bitcoin is already treated like a foreign currency but it might still make things more certain. Also there might be benefits from such an action for the status of Bitcoin in other countries. It would sure make it more difficult to ban.

What do you say?


edited for brevity

I actually think that making bitcoin an "official currency" would be a bad idea.

It's what a lot of people want to move away from, the general idea of an official currency.

[phelix]

There is no need for the country or the citizens of the country to do even a single Bitcoin tx.

So you want to sell the gold bitcoin standard to a country?

Nahh it would be completely independent from the normal currency.

So, bitcoin would be the official currency of the country, but not used by the people, because they keep using whatever they're using?

Exactly. They would do it on paper so that Bitcoin gets potential benefits but they don't have any trouble.

[...]

I actually think that making bitcoin an "official currency" would be a bad idea.

It's what a lot of people want to move away from, the general idea of an official currency.
[/quote]
There might be some advantages from gaming the system.

[surebet]

So, bitcoin would be the official currency of the country, but not used by the people, because they keep using whatever they're using?

So... what's the exact proposition, bribe a country into saying that bitcoin is now it's official currency, but then let them totally ignore it?

[the founder]

You know the right target for this right?  The Government of Tuvalu.   Nearly all it's income is derived from .tv domain name.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Tuvalu

and for general history of the country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvalu

The Prime Minster posts on Reddit all the time,  his username is " PMofTuvalu "

http://www.reddit.com/r/Foodforthought/comments/1b6lep/the_25_least_visited_countries_in_the_world/c94gcp5?context=3

I'm just stating that if you wanted to ask a country to adopt bitcoin,  that would be the country...  they would most likely need at least 200,000 bitcoins to start...  

So... what's the exact proposition, bribe a country into saying that bitcoin is now it's official currency, but then let them totally ignore it?

The exact proposition is to say each Tuvaluan dollar equals .003 BTC.  Similar to this image,  how the United States used to view currency.

"This certifies that there is .003 bitcoin on deposit in exchange for this note on demand"



for the first year or two it most likely would be our responsibility to keep there treasury funded...     honestly I doubt the bitcoin community would be up to it...  literally you're most likely talking about 200,000 bitcoins or more.

It's a valuation of about $30,000,000  .. not much money for what you are buying... but i would be shocked to see if the community actually funded it.

GDP: purchasing power parity $36 million (2010 est.)[4]

GDP: official exchange rate $32 million (2010 est.)[4]

GDP - real growth rate: -1.7% (2009); 0.2% (2010 est.) 0% (2011 proj.)[13]

GDP - per capita: $2,447 (2009)[13]

GDP – composition by sector: (2002)[4]

[17]GNI - GNI per capita: $4,760 (current US$ 2010)

Agriculture: 16.6%

Industry: 27.2%

Services: 56.2%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): -1¾% (November 2010)[13]

Total population: 10,544 (July 2011 est.)[4]

Labor force - by occupation: people make a living mainly through exploitation of the sea, reefs, and atolls and from wages sent home by those working abroad in Australia and New Zealand and sailors working of merchant ships.

Labour force: 3,615 (2004 est.)[4]

Unemployment rate: 16.3% (2004)[13]

[Trongersoll]

I remember reading somewhere that there is a South American country who's official currancy is the US Dollar. you might want to talk to them.

I think that to be viable the entire country would have to have free wifi.

[xcsler]

Here's my analysis from March when the whole Cyprus debacle broke. The Cypriot government could have actually done this without our help by selling a couple of their gold bars!

I wonder how many Eurodollars Cyprus would need to buy enough bitcoins to default on their debts, leave the Euro, make their depositors whole, and become the first BTC nation?

Cyprus' population (1 million) is roughly only 1/7000th of the entire world (7 billion). So if all the bitcoins were evenly distributed amongst the world's population the Cypriots current fair share would be 1/7000 of 11 million coins = 1571 bitcoins for the enitre country!

According to the market depth on Mt Gox they could acquire 1600 bitcoins for the paltry sum of 88,000 eurodollars. Now let's say they want their fair share of all 21 million bitcoins that would cost them 170,000 eurodollars for about 3100 bitcoins. Hey, let them go crazy and put in a safety factor of 8! They could buy 8 times their fair share for about 1.4 million eurodollars.

Crisis solved for the Cypriots.

(Repost from another thread)

[cr1776]

This makes a good point!

You know the right target for this right?  The Government of Tuvalu.   Nearly all it's income is derived from .tv domain name.
...

[the founder]

I think it's a good idea.   This country is struggling and is entirely dependent on handouts.   It's a tech savvy country in terms of using the internet to generate income with proof coming from the .tv domain name.

You want to target a country to back their currency with bitcoin, that's the country.

[oaxaca]

Tuvalu is a bad idea.  The Prime Minister is a scammer of the first order.  He jets around the globe begging for money since his island is sinking because of global warming.  It's not.

They are expanding the International airport to accomodate "green" tourists who want to see the sea rise.  The airport is AT sea level.

They changed the laws recently to allow foreign ownership of land to try and cash in on the eco-crisis.

caveat emptor

[crazy_rabbit]

Tuvalu is a bad idea.  The Prime Minister is a scammer of the first order.  He jets around the globe begging for money since his island is sinking because of global warming.  It's not.

They are expanding the International airport to accomodate "green" tourists who want to see the sea rise.  The airport is AT sea level.

They changed the laws recently to allow foreign ownership of land to try and cash in on the eco-crisis.

caveat emptor

So basically you're saying Tuvalu would be perfect place for bitcoin to start?

[ildubbioso]

Tuvalu is a bad idea.  The Prime Minister is a scammer of the first order.  He jets around the globe begging for money since his island is sinking because of global warming.  It's not.

They are expanding the International airport to accomodate "green" tourists who want to see the sea rise.  The airport is AT sea level.

They changed the laws recently to allow foreign ownership of land to try and cash in on the eco-crisis.

caveat emptor

So basically you're saying Tuvalu would be perfect place for bitcoin to start?

I was waiting for this! 

[yolo2222]

Tuvalu, Im coming!

[oaxaca]

On a purely sarcastic level, sure it's a great fit.  On a "move bitcoin forward", "raise awareness", "we're not just drug dealers and tax cheats" level, it's counterproductive.

I love the comedy value however.

[yolo2222]

On a purely sarcastic level, sure it's a great fit.  On a "move bitcoin forward", "raise awareness", "we're not just drug dealers and tax cheats" level, it's counterproductive.

I love the comedy value however.

hmmm...please go back to school.
Your grammar makes me cry- I could not even get a sense of what you wanted to express.

[oaxaca]

On a purely sarcastic level, sure it's a great fit.  On a "move bitcoin forward", "raise awareness", "we're not just drug dealers and tax cheats" level, it's counterproductive.

I love the comedy value however.

hmmm...please go back to school.
Your grammar makes me cry- I could not even get a sense of what you wanted to express.

No can go back to school.  They ask me to go home.

[Wilikon]

Tuvalu...
Couldn't that country invest in couple of upcoming ASICs mining rigs if the bitcoin was green lighted over there?
They could also become the Cayman islands for bitcoins with cold wallets inside "climate controlled", hurricane proof buried bunkers. They could rent them out like a physical bitcoin bank. All in bitcoin of course.
They could include the definition and protection of crypto currency into their constitution and becoming, not just a new Cayman Island, but a new Switzerland for crypto.

It is not so much to pay out a country. If the country believes in the cause, no matter how little they can contribute by investing into the program (lands, etc), then slowly but surely bitcoin millionaires will come, if Tuvalu builds it.