In February 2018, there was a small news item that didn’t get near the attention that is deserved. It described how The Marshall Islands–formerly a U.S. Territory, but now an independent sovereign nation–plans to launch it own cryptocurrency, called the SOV and use it as legal tender. This will be the world’s second sovereign cryptocurrency. (Venezuela has announced pre-sale of a national crypto that is backed by oil. But the Marshall Islands SOV is a much more legitmate venture.)
Sovereign Cryptocurrency
For any sovereign nation to release a legitimate sovereign cryptocurrency and give it legal tender status is huge news–even if it is done by a tiny nation.
Here are three key quotes from the article:
“The country has capped the SOV supply at 24 million tokens in order to prevent inflation…”
and,
“The Marshall Islands is partnering with Neema, an Israeli financial technology startup, to issue the SOV…”
and,
“[The] SOV is based on what the Marshall Islands government calls the “Yakwe framework”, which requires users to identify themselves on the blockchain, solving the anonymity problem that has plagued bitcoin and precluded its mainstream adoption. Paul said that because bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are anonymous, they are not compatible with the framework of a regulated banking environment.”
The story behind the Marshall Islands SOV is interesting reading, just in itself.
Hmmm… This is all food for thought. The SOV articles helped crystallize in my mind a plan for a sovereign cryptocurrency that I had been considering for several months.
Paying Off THE National Debt
If Donald Trump and senior U.S. Treasury Department officials are paying attention, then they are probably considering a similar cryptocurrency token issue. (Or they should be considering it!) Here is my prediction: If there is a US Treasury Sovereign crypto token issued and if it is done correctly, then it could literally pay off the U.S. National Debt in less than ten years. I’m not joking. Here is how this could work:
1.) The U.S. Treasury creates a variant of proven blockchain software and releases a strictly-limited quantity of crypto tokens. I propose that these crypto tokens be called U.S. Eagles or (“US-E”), to distinguish them from fiat US Dollars (USD). These would be strictly limited to a total issue of 100 Million US-E tokens. They’d be released at the rate of 10 Million US-E Tokens per year, over the course of 10 years. This strict token limit would insure that inflation of the US-E cryptocurrency is impossible. Instead, a sustained price deflation is inevitable, most likely at a geometric rate as the US-Eagle gains popularity.
2.) The exchange rate of US-E (“Eagles”) would be free-floating versus all other currencies.
3.) The selling price of the Initial Coin Offering (ICO) for 10 Million US-E Tokens be set at $100 USD. But each subsequent annual release will be sold into circulation based solely on its then-current free market exchange rate. If demand is high then they should be sold with priority given to individual buyers who place online buy orders for less than .10 US-E each, to prevent a small group of individuals from amassing most of the tokens thereby allowing them to manipulate the market.
4.) That the US-E have 12 decimal places of divisibility, to give it long term utility, even if it advances to great value versus fiat currencies and other cryptocurrencies. (Most other cryptos only have 9 decimal places,)
5.) That US-E be given legal tender status for paying all debts, public and private in the United States and its territories.
6.) That ES-E be made 100% tax exempt throughout their chain of creation, issuance, use, and re-use. (“No taxes, ever“) This would mean that holders of US-E who sell them, spend them, or earn them would not be subject to any Federal taxes. Thus, US Dollar (USD) earnings and profits would still be taxable, but the US-E would not.
7.) That there be no electronic mining of US-E sovereign cryptocurrency. Rather, they will be sold or spent into circulation in annual batches as a land-backed currency. By law, 100% of the revenue derived would be used to pay down the National Debt. And after all that debt is extinguished, any additional revenue would then be used to build up a national infrastructure trust fund to build roads, bridges, canals, border fences, and electrical/Internet infrastructure.
8.) For its land backing, the US-E sovereign cryptocurrency would have perpetual at-will convertibility on demand into Allodial Patent Deeds for almost any BLM land within Owyhee County, in the southwestern corner of Idaho. This Southwest Idaho Free Trade (SWIFT) Zone would be bounded by the Nevada State line (to the south) and the Oregon State line (to the west.) But it would exclude the already sovereignly-held Duck Valley Indian Reservation. Nearly all of the BLM-administered Federal land inside Owyhee County wodu be eligible to be redeemed with US-E, with the price for each parcel set at auction. These parcels would be allodially-held freeholds in the SWIFT Zone.
9.) The minimum size parcel for subdivision would be five acres. Owyhee County measures 7,665 square miles (4,905,600 acres.) That is about three times the size of Delaware. But it has a population of less than 12,000. So there is plenty of vacant BLM land to redeem there. (Since it is likely that the free market price of land inside the SWIFT Zone would soon exceed 300 US-E per acre, the entirety of the BLM land inside the zone would never be redeemed.)
10.) Any land that is already privately owned in Owyhee County would automatically become allodially-held freeholds, at no charge. Any currently-held mining claims would be converted to patented allodial freeheld claims, at no charge. And currently-held BLM cattle grazing permits inside the SWIFT Zone would end, but the holders of those permits would be reimbursed by free allodial grants of smaller parcels of BLM land, of their choice. The holders of US-E sovereign cryptocurrency could redeem their choice of any BLM land inside the SWIFT Zone, with the exception of land set aside for road right-of-ways, shooting ranges, water reclamation sites, a few small riparian parks, public landfills, and airports.
11.) All land inside of the SWIFT Zone would be entirely exempt from any property taxes (Federal, State, or Local), in perpetuity. But with more billionaires per capita that any other US county, there will be no shortage of donations for scholarships to private schools and to build and maintain roads. Further, all land inside the SWIFT Zone would also be exempt from all Federal Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms laws. And even better, the holders of these parcels would be exempt from Federal income tax for any income generated by their business ventures located inside the SWIFT Zone. To clarify: Any business venture, trust, or individual, located inside the SWIFT Zone would be fully exempt from all Federal taxes including all duties, tariffs, corporate taxes, excise taxes, income taxes, estates taxes, the Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax (FAET), NFA taxes, or capital gains taxes, forever.
Conclusion:
If this new US-Eagle sovereign cryptocurrency and SWIFT Zone are created as I have outlined, then I predict that they would immediately flourish with unprecedented abundance. Each successive annual US-E token issue would jump in value in relation to all other currencies. By the time that the Eighth Round of US-E tokens is issued, the value of US-E sovereign cryptocurrency put into circulation would pay off the current $21 trillion National Debt. (It will probably be at least $23 trillion by the time this plan could be implemented.) And by the time that the 10th Round is issued, it will have built up an Infrastructure Trust Fund so large that it would last the nation for generations.
Pay attention, President Trump. This US-Eagle sovereign cryptocurrency can fly. This is your opportunity to go down in history as America’s Greatest President. Ever. – JWR
Note: Permission is granted for re-posting of this entire article, but only if done so in full, with proper attribution to James Wesley, Rawles and SurvivalBlog, and only if the included links are preserved.)
A better idea. Print (well not really it would simply be placed on the books) $20 trillion and buy back all the federal debt and retire it. The $20 trillion would be printed out of thin air with nothing backing it like the approximately $5 trillion that was “printed” during the Obama presidency. In fact most of that money was used to buy up debt and the process is already 20% complete today. Do it in secret on a weekend and voila we are debt free.
This is an amazing idea.
Trump, see this wisdom.
Let us rebuild the U.S.A., and in your own words ” Make America great again”.
All repect.
No offense James, But that is a ridiculous idea given the state of the Average American who cant even manage to replace a hot water heater without borrowing the money.
Potlatch owns or owned the entire 1.8 million acres of white pine area clear to the Montana border Thats only one company… so theoretically the whole 4.9mill acres could be owned by a handful of people.. or Just one really rich guy.. in a time when most Americans are already jaded with the idea that 1% of the population owns 90% of the wealth..
I predict the peasants armed with pitch forks and torches descending on the swift zone. it would have to be encircled with concertina wire and mine fields just to keep the commoners at bay or should we call them ‘subjects’? ..If shear envy of this exclusive club ‘Island’, that was formed in a nation saddled with so much consumer,personal and tax debt didnt get over run by the debt ridden peasants.. The wealthy would be scampering to move every asset they own into this ‘island’ of freedom. Vacant land would be filled with luxury yachts( and a body of water to float them in ), jets and the wealth that is otherwise taxed by Governments.. Fine by me.. But the attitude of the average American towards these elitists-made-more-elite by enjoying a tax free world unattainable by anyone else would cause some serious problems..
I’ll stick with what comes from what God has created gold and silver.
Hmm, very interesting. Clearly, you’ve put a lot of thought into this. The present system is obviously not working and seems doomed to fail, somethings got to change. Crypto currency is hard to grasp for many people, especially those over 50, but the younger generation understands it and its potential, so this might resonate with them. I don’t see why something like this wouldn’t work, but then, I’m not an economist. Still, very interesting.
Why, specifically, Owyhee County of all places?
I chose Owyhee County because it it is remote, very lightly populated, and more than 90% BLM land. It is mostly just sagebrush, so there isn’t much there to get the Enviro-Nazis in a kerfluffle. It also has the advantage of having no building permits required in 99% of the county. And, being in Idaho, it also benefits from Idaho’s favorable home schooling laws, home birth laws, gun laws, a low state income tax, and inexpensive car registration. (The annual fee is $69 OR LESS, whether you are registering an old junker or a Maserati.)
I lived there for many years, and while much of what you say is true, there is a lot of history in that county, and quite a bit of protected real estate that the Enviro’s were quite kerflufferly about not too long ago when the Owyhee Initiative land use agreement was being hammered out. It’s not as empty as it appears and most who live there are fiercly independent; especially the ranchers, some with very deep multigenerational ties. Not saying it can’t be, or shouldn’t be tried, as there will be obstacles anywhere great things are attempted and achieved, but that county as sparsly populated as it may seem, won’t tame too easy.
Mr. Rawles,
With all respect, (to the extent that I understand the security of the blockchain software) your proposal sounds like a logical and secure path to getting the nation free from its “national debt.” I would love to see it happen. But to the extent that I understand the heart of Man, and the Words of Scripture, I doubt that it could ever be executed as you propose.
If it is true that “the borrower is slave to the lender,” then it seems as likely to be true that an intergenerational cabal of families, who have, since humans had enough to borrow and lend, successfully enslaved every nation that has ever risen to independence, wealth, and power, and have kept those nations in their control, one way or another, would never allow any nation, let alone this troublesome upstart, America, escape their patiently forged, and all but invisible, chains of “debt.”
Beyond my doubts that the CONgress would ever willingly allow themselves to be shorn of the subordinate “money” power they are allowed to wield, I would specifically mistrust any agency of the present government (The Treasury?) to knowingly create software that could successfully free America (or any other nation) from the clutches of the lenders of valueless “currency,” without leaving some clever “trapdoor” in the software to be exploited later. Those with the knowledge to write and review such coding are few, and not all of them enamored of true Liberty; the rest of us are left to trust and hope.
While many (most?) of us expect an eventual Heavenly Resolution to the troubles of this World, let us not forget to whom the current temporal governing of the world has been allowed.