Puerto Rico’s governor, Ricardo Roselló, has announced his resignation in light of mounting political pressure. He will officially step down from office on August 2, 2019.
Roselló’s announcement comes days after the release of leaked chat messages that contained offensive comments about his political opponents and victims of Hurricane Maria. The resignation, however, could threaten the future of the cryptocurrency asset class in the region as he was a major proponent of the technology.
Roselló’s Resignation: A Roadblock to Cryptocurrency
SponsoredPuerto Rico itself has been going through an economic slowdown. The island state is currently under billions of dollars worth of debt. Even before Hurricane Maria, which left a devastating impact on the island, the country needed urgent capital investment from abroad or private firms. Years of corruption, generous pensions, and entitlements had eaten up the state’s reserves, according to economic experts.
#PuertoRico governor #Rosello just mentioned #Crypto in his speech #cryptocurrency #BTC #Bitcoin #ct #PuertoRicoProtests #puertorico #PuertoRicoMarcha $BTC @WapaTV #wapatv pic.twitter.com/umzMUAfTVO
— cryptowaikoah (@cryptowaikoah) July 25, 2019
Puerto Rico, with its low taxation and ease of access for US citizens, caught the attention of many cryptocurrency entrepreneurs early on. These individuals wanted to establish residency on the island in the hopes of avoiding heavy federal taxes on their newly made fortunes. They even offered to bring in investments to Puerto Rico and revive its economy. The governor, Ricardo Roselló, even appeared at a cryptocurrency conference earlier this year to lend his support. A Twitter user even claimed that Roselló mentioned ‘crypto’ during his resignation speech.
Puerto Rico: Not the Cryptocurrency Utopia?
Many of these entrepreneurs moved to Puerto Rico in hopes of finding a cryptocurrency utopia. One such individual was Brock Pierce. The former child actor made his fortune by co-founding Block.One, the startup that developed and sold approximately $200 million worth of EOS tokens in a year-long initial coin offering. Today, EOS is valued at $6.4 billion. At one point, Pierce offered to create a charitable token called ONE, even pledging $1 billion of his own fortunes for the island.
However, the cryptocurrency ecosystem on the island has not been officially recognized or regulated by the government yet. The governor’s resignation now presents a hard road ahead for the same cryptocurrency entrepreneurs that flocked to Puerto Rico only a year or two ago. After Roselló’s resignation and Federal Oversight and Management board’s recent restructuring of the island’s $74 billion debt, which will likely result in more oversight from the US government, the cryptocurrency utopia seems like a dying dream.
Do you think Puerto Rico will continue to be a safe haven for cryptocurrency investors and entrepreneurs? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
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