By Rojava has recently emerged from six years of war and is now under economic sanctions from surrounding countries. With sanctions threatening to undermine Rojava’s fragile peace, this region desperately seeks monetary independence.
Although Syria is the principal enemy of Rojava, this region’s primary currency is still the Syrian Lira. As such, there is a belief that cryptocurrencies could offer a solution for Rojava by providing the region with an alternative currency that may grant monetary independence and assistance in overcoming economic sanctions.
Rojava has therefore tabled a project which plans to implement new technological academies, with a particular emphasis on cryptography and cryptocurrencies. This project is being promoted by Amir Taaki, an early bitcoin developer who fought in the Rojava revolution, and Erselan Serdem, the leader of the project’s technological development program.
Taaki, who believes this project is revolutionary, “wants to build a new society based on anarchist principles”. Serdem is, however, more conservative and believes that although Rojava has set a positive example for the world and gained mobilizing organizational skills through the war, achieving the region-wide adoption of cryptocurrency remains an ambitious task. Serdem stated, in relation to the project, that “we have to think deeply about the future of the new system, and how the people can arrange and manage resources democratically without any form of centralization”.
New Cryptocurrency-Based Financial Infrastructure
The push towards cryptocurrency is particularly notable because Rojava’s economy is still based purely on paper currency and its associated infrastructure and costs. Locals were dependent on using large amounts of paper cash to secure trades, which contributed to an already high level of inflation and other costs associated with the inefficiencies of such a system. Switching to a cryptocurrency-based system will therefore have a far-reaching and profound impact on Rojava.
Taaki foresaw that the first step to transition into a cryptocurrency-based economy was to equip local currency exchanges with bitcoin and provide residents with wallet software that has been translated into local languages. These steps would then have to be followed by a payment infrastructure or custom payment network that would make trade fast, affordable and secure. Other applications, such as radio transmitted cryptocurrency applications and paper-based currencies pegged to crypto, are also being researched as not everyone has access to mobile phones.
Serdem also noted that the necessary situational analysis would have to be completed before cryptocurrency could be implemented, an analysis which would require substantial and intensive work and documentation. As the region’s locals do not want to depend on Syrian state money, the prospect of a region-wide cryptocurrency-based economy is becoming increasingly probable.
Other Potential Applications Beyond Money
Rojava’s new society is being conceptualized as a system of cooperatives that would each fulfill different functions within society, such as healthcare, agriculture, media and the arts. This society would ideally be comprised of volunteers so as to maintain a strong principle of non-coercion. Taaki has envisaged that there would be a technological committee which will help establish local cryptocurrencies to allow such cooperatives to engage in trade, as well as issuing financial instruments that could, for example, be used for fundraising.
Although substantial work remains to be completed before this vision can be realized, Rojava has displayed an ability to achieve remarkable feats and this region may well set an example, throughout the Middle East, of a democratic society achieved through non-violent measures.
Do you believe transitioning to a cryptocurrency-based economy will help Rojava bypass economic sanctions? Will Rojava be the first region in the Middle East to be solely reliant on cryptocurrency? Give us your thoughts in the comments below.
Follow CoinBeat on Facebook, Twitter & Telegram
Subscribe to our CoinBeat Newsletter
Submit an article to CoinBeat
View live Marketcap Prices here
Comments