Crypto Rico: Blockchain for a Broken Paradise

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Hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico is becoming an unlikely launchpad for a blockchain boom. Whilst many thousands of Puerto Ricans are leaving the island after the devastation of hurricane Maria, a small group of wealthy ‘crypto-preneurs’, are moving to this US territory. They harbour hopes to reboot paradise using blockchain technology, the revolutionary idea which helped create digital currencies like bitcoin, and bring prosperity back to this financially struggling island. But are they and their plans welcome? BBC Miami’s Rafael Abuchaibe meets some of the newly arrived blockchain enthusiasts. At the centre is crypto pioneer and entrepreneur Brock Pierce, the de-facto head of this informal and unconventional group with equally unconventional plans. Are they opportunistic playboys looking for a cushy low-tax life in ‘paradise’ or altruistic mavericks? Abuchaibe finds some local Puerto Ricans who have already been inspired by this new technology. They are exploring ways blockchain can kick-start enterprises, from organising twenty-four hour hackathons and creating a local crypto-currency, to running a hacker house and providing hurricane insurance on the blockchain. Not all Island residents are so welcoming of the technology; some worry this is just the most modern phase of a long history of colonialisation. Does blockchain’s open and disruptive nature make it a useful new tool for struggling economies? Will PR become a shining example of how this technology can democratise fiscal recovery or will any resulting prosperity remain in the hands of the few? (Photo: Man holds a torn Puerto Rican flag with binary numbers in the background. Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images)