Maya Parbhoe, a presidential candidate for the South American republic of Suriname in the 2025 elections, has announced plans to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender and transition the country’s financial infrastructure to blockchain.
On May 25 — 2025, 6 months from now, the people of Suriname will have a clear choice to…
> End systemic corruption
> Embrace a full Bitcoin standard
> Become truly independentMany countries will follow.
Nothing stops this train?? https://t.co/QR1b6tbJGr pic.twitter.com/xYCxJfYFmN
— Maya Parbhoe (@MayaPar25) November 25, 2024
Parbhoe, CEO of fintech company Daedalus Labs, a developer of Bitcoin and NOSTR-based solutions, told Cointelegraph that she became interested in cryptocurrencies 10 years ago and has since concluded that Suriname’s financial infrastructure is ineffective. As an example, she noted that central bank employees used an Excel spreadsheet to determine the exchange rate.
“We need to create an alternative where we don’t face the same problems, but instead build a new system based on Satoshi Nakamoto’s developments,” Parbhoe noted.
Another significant reason for integrating digital gold into the state financial system, she cited, is the prevalence of corruption in the country.
According to her, the idea to enter politics came from Bitcoin maximalist Samson Mow, who assisted the Salvadoran authorities with the integration of the first cryptocurrency.
In May 2023, at a conference in Florida, Parbhoe proposed to Mow the application of El Salvador’s Bitcoin transformation experience in Suriname. However, the initiative faced challenges due to corruption.
Suriname’s Bitcoin Transformation
The plan, outlined as part of her election campaign, includes:
- eliminating the central bank;
- adopting Bitcoin as the national currency;
- creating stock markets on blockchain;
- introducing Bitcoin bonds to stimulate growth;
- developing a regulatory framework to ensure market stability and investor protection.
To implement the reforms, the candidate proposes constitutional amendments to allow for decentralized governance.
Parbhoe believes that a Bitcoin-based national economy will be more efficient and fully transparent, complicating life for corrupt individuals and fostering economic growth:
“Corruption is destroying this country and preventing billions of dollars in investments, hindering development.”
According to her campaign materials, as a result, the citizens of Suriname will gain a transparent government, better public services, and more influence over the country’s future.
El Salvador’s Precedent: Reality
In 2021, El Salvador recognized Bitcoin as legal tender and launched a series of reforms to integrate the first cryptocurrency with the national economy. At the time, experts suggested that this would not lead to significant changes, especially for ordinary citizens, but would serve as an important precedent for other countries.
According to El Salvador’s president and blockchain reform initiator Nayib Bukele, after three years, the results of the initiative remain mixed:
“Certainly, much more could have been done. Bitcoin did not achieve the widespread adoption we hoped for.”
According to a survey by Francisco Gavidia University, 58% of Salvadorans support the government’s course, but only 7.5% use Bitcoin for transactions.
On the other hand, potential risks to financial stability did not materialize due to the size of the economy and the limited effect of the reforms.
“I feel that perhaps it could have worked better, and we still need to make some improvements. But it did not lead to anything negative. On the contrary, it gave us branding, brought investments and tourism,” Bukele commented.
Despite the insufficient changes, the head of state still believes that the integration of Bitcoin at the state level has yielded positive results:
“We have seen only benefits. As much as I would like? No. Did it bring anything bad? No. So, purely positive.”
In May, Cathie Wood predicted a tenfold GDP growth for El Salvador thanks to the first cryptocurrency.