On Saturday Rolando Brison (leader of the United People’s Party, member of St. Maarten’s Parlament) announced that he’s the first elected official who requested his entire salary to be paid in bitcoin cash. Brison believes that St. Maarten could be the “Crypto capital of the Caribbean” if it continues to embrace cryptocurrency technology and blockchain solutions.
MP Wants St. Maarten to Become the ‘Crypto Capital of the Caribbean’
While El Salvador is known for its bitcoin tender law, the Caribbean has become a hotbed for cryptocurrency adoption and more specifically with bitcoin cash (BCH). Data from map.bitcoin.com shows there are currently hundreds of merchants in the Caribbean accepting BCH for goods and services. On March 19, a member of St. Maarten’s Parliament and the leader of the United People’s Party (UP Party St. Maarten), Rolando Brison, announced that he is receiving his entire salary in bitcoin cash (BCH).
The government official believes St. Maarten should continue to explore the “ever-growing cryptocurrency phenomenon.” Brison stated that he had asked St. Maarten’s finance Minister Ardwell Irion for an update on his plans for blockchain technology in government. Brison stated that St. Maarten could be the “Crypto Capital” of the Caribbean if it continues to innovate and embrace blockchain technology.
Brison Is ‘Exploring Legislation in Order to Make Bitcoin Cash Legal Tender in St. Maarten’
The elected official from St. Maarten stated on Twitter that he was first to receive his entire salary in cryptocurrency asset payments. “Today I become to first elected official in the world to have his entire salary paid in bitcoin cash, as our country moves more and more to making use of cryptocurrency and blockchain,” Brison tweeted. “Thanks [Roger Ver], for your guidance in making St Maarten the Crypto capital of the Caribbean,” the leader of the St. Maarten UP Party added.
Brison mentioned that St. Maarten’s finance Minister had stated that blockchain adoption and crypto were a top priority in research last year. Brison said that he was grateful for the ideas of the finance minister to move toward innovation. Leader of the UP Party stated that legislation on cryptocurrency and blockchain was needed.
” While we must improve our commercial banking legacy by way of my proposed consumer bank legislation, we simultaneously have to create legislation to make cryptocurrency transactions more efficient and worthwhile in St. Maarten,” Brison said. The member of St. Maarten’s Parliament added that he has started to explore legislation to make bitcoin cash (BCH) legal tender in the country. Furthermore, Brison aims to get BCH and non-fungible token (NFT) transactions exempt from St. Maarten’s capital gains tax.
” The concept of “Money” has experienced and will continue experiencing a wave innovation, the elected official from St. Maarten said. “This innovation occurs as we, as a country, and as parliamentarians, are confronted with more questions about how to adapt our local currency (E)commerce for the digital age.” The answer is right in front of you – Bitcoin Cash
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Ardwell Irion, BCH, bitcoin cash, bitcoin cash BCH, Blockchain, capital gains tax, Caribbean, crypto asset payments, crypto legislation, Digital Currencies, digital world, elected official, Finance Minister, Legislation, MP, Parliament Bitcoin Cash, Rolando Brison, St. Maarten, United People’s Party, UP Party
What do you think about the St. Maarten UP Party leader and Parliament member Rolando Brison getting his entire salary paid in bitcoin cash? Please comment below to let us know your thoughts on this topic.
Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman, a journalist and financial tech expert living in Florida, is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. Redman is passionate about Bitcoin, open-source codes, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 5,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today.
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