A Suriname Presidential hopeful says she wants to follow El Salvador’s Bitcoin (BTC) lead, and will grant the token legal tender status if she is elected.
The candidate, Maya Parbhoe, said her goal is to replace the Surinamese dollar with Bitcoin. And she said that El Salvador’s example provided “hope” for the “future.”
Candidate Wants Suriname Bitcoin Haven
El Salvador remains the only nation that has granted Bitcoin legal tender status. But while some governments have spoken about the possibility of following suit, they have yet to do so.
In recent weeks, Argentinian government officials have discussed BTC adoption-related matters with their Salvadoran counterparts.
Excited for this week's episode with @MayaPar25.
Discover her plans to transform #Suriname with #Bitcoin, inspired by @nayibbukele's success in #ElSalvador. Make sure to tune in on Saturday to hear her full vision.
Subscribe now to our channel or follow and support us on your… pic.twitter.com/Gax9e36VAW
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But Parbhoe, speaking in an interview with Bitcoin Beach’s Mike Peterson, said that El Salvador and its President Nayib Bukele were showing that it is possible to “fight against global powers.” She said:
“Bukele was really able to fight global powers and do what was best for his country by adopting BTC as legal tender. […] I look at El Salvador and I see hope [for the] future.”
The Bitcoin Beach project centers around BTC adoption in the Salvadoran village of El Zonte.
Many think its US expat masterminds provided the blueprint for Bukele’s BTC adoption move.
Parbhoe is hoping to win office in Suriname’s 2025 elections. She has claimed that her goal is to “replace the Surinamese dollar (SRD)” with Bitcoin.
And, like Argentina’s President Javier Milei in the run-up to his election, she says she wants to “simply eliminate” the SRD.
If @nayibbukele can fight to save his country from violence and corruption, why would we not stand up and fight for our own.
Why should our people suffer and the development of our country be hampered because of the greed of a few. After 50 years, it’s time for change.
Over… https://t.co/6JT9R0cnL5
— Maya Parbhoe (@MayaPar25) May 25, 2024
Ditch Fiat for BTC, Urges Presidential Hopeful
However, while Milei’s plans centered on dollarizing the Argentinian economy, Parbhoe wants to ditch fiat for BTC.
She said there was “no reason why” Suriname “cannot replace the SRD with BTC.” Parbhoe explained that adopting BTC would be “the way to build a new system” in the country.
El Salvador officially adopted BTC as legal tender in September 2021, shortly after Bukele announced his plans to do so.
Parbhoe said that “decades of poor financial management” had shown Suriname “many examples of what not to do” with the economy.
The nation’s public spending has ballooned, along with fiscal deficit versus GDP. Corruption is also rife.
Like Argentina, Suriname has also been blighted by soaring inflation in recent years.
Suriname and Bitcoin: El Salvador Parallels?
Parbhoe drew parallels with El Salvador. Both Latin American nations are relatively small, and only 3,766km separates them. She said that Suriname has a “small population of only 600,000” people.
She claimed that she planned to “diversify the economy using innovation” and “position the country as a global leader in technology.”
On X, she claims that her mission is to “color the world orange,” referring to the unofficial color of Bitcoin.
She has also stated that the conditions for Bitcoin adoption in her nation are “perfect,” pointing to a high level of IT literacy and connectivity.
As well as adopting BTC as legal tender, Bukele’s government has been buying BTC with state funds.
We have increased the capacity of our geothermal plants by 10% by essentially recycling the water vapor in a binary cycle.
More clean energy, continuous, 24/7, and harnessed from our volcanoes without the need to import hydrocarbons
Now, we’re going to fix the economy 🇸🇻🌋 pic.twitter.com/wEDLXDolBa
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) June 7, 2024
The Bukele government has bought at least BTC 5,000. Bukele says that the government is currently storing these funds in cold wallets in a “physical vault” on Salvadoran “territory.”