Go Lean…Caribbean

Go Lean Commentary

What materials should money be made from: Gold, Silver, Copper, Diamonds, Emeralds, Rubies and other precious stones?

How about “nothing”? Thin Air?

To insist on some orthodoxy of precious materials, would be inconsequential. Remember, the default currency now is paper. How much more precious a material is paper as opposed to Digits (1’s and 0’s). These are all close to “nothing”.

Yet, this is our economy. Yes, the medium for our currency is not the physical material, but rather: Trust.

The Trust equation is about to change, again. This time, instead of National Trust, we are looking at Corporate Trust.

Here comes the banks; here comes blockchain; here comes crypto-currency; here comes digitization.

Yes, here comes ‘trouble’. Here comes Big Wall Street Bank JPMorganChase. Here comes other players in other markets – see the news articles in the Appendices below:

• Appendix A – JPMorganChase
• Appendix B – Belarus
• Appendix C – Sweden

All of these articles and news developments speak to the digitization of money and banking, highlighting that the primary ingredient in this recipe for success is Trust.

This is where this discussion comes home. In the Caribbean we need to embrace digital money and electronic payment solutions, but first we need Trust in a regional financial institution to manifest this roadmap. When we look at the reality of our Caribbean geography, we see:

American, Dutch, English, French, Spanish, Independent and Overseas Territories

Here comes trouble! We realize something very obvious: we do not trust each other!  So we may actually have to do the heavy-lifting that was always needed for our regional society to finally function as a coherent neighborhood. We have always needed to come together … in trust and unity; but never have.

Now more than ever, we must convene, collaborate and confederate banking solutions for our Caribbean homeland by committing vital resources for every Caribbean country, all 30 member-states. The basis for our trust must be, that we all have something to lose.

Then, only then, will we have no choice but to trust each other for a unified monetary and currency solution.

Trust but verify – Russian proverb Doveryai, no proveryai used by the 40th US President Ronald Reagan to emphasize “the extensive verification procedures that would enable both sides to monitor compliance with the INF Treaty of 1987 for nuclear disarmament by the US and USSR”^[4].

We are urged to follow this wise “trust but verify” course of action. If it worked for bilateral cooperation between arch-enemies – USA and USSR – it can work for friendly neighbors in the Caribbean region.

The verification is key. The book Go Lean … Caribbean proposed a monetary-currency (Caribbean Dollar or C$) solution involving a cooperative of the Central Banks already in the region, dubbed the Caribbean Central Bank (CCB). Such a move should not be so unnerving. There is already currency interdependence for many member-states:

• Eastern Caribbean Central Bank – services the monetary-currency needs of 8 countries (Antigua & Barbuda, Anguilla, Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent & the Grenadines)
• US Dollar is used as the monetary-currency solution for 4 Caribbean countries: British Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Turks & Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands. (Plus used widely along with local currency in 9 countries).

With a Central Bank cooperative, we would already be half-way there! The Go Lean book (Page 73) details this CCB cooperative as follows:

Now, we can launch our own crypto-currency and electronic payments, clearing and settlements from this strong foundation. The missing ingredient, Trust, would be fulfilled. See how the underlying technology behind crypto-currencies, Blockchain, is explained in this TED Talk VIDEO here:

VIDEO – How the blockchain will radically transform the economy | Bettina Warburg – https://youtu.be/RplnSVTzvnU

TED
Published on Dec 8, 2016 – Say hello to the decentralized economy — the blockchain is about to change everything. In this lucid explainer of the complex (and confusing) technology, Bettina Warburg describes how the blockchain will eliminate the need for centralized institutions like banks or governments to facilitate trade, evolving age-old models of commerce and finance into something far more interesting: a distributed, transparent, autonomous system for exchanging value.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes (or less). Look for talks on Technology, Entertainment and Design — plus science, business, global issues, the arts and much more. Find closed captions and translated subtitles in many languages at http://www.ted.com/translate

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• Category: Science & Technology

A successful digital money / electronic payment scheme is very important in the strategy for elevating the Caribbean economy. The “risky” image of crypto-currency may now be nullified with all the global developments taking place.

Let’s get started!

This theme of Caribbean monetary and currency solutions have been elaborated in previous Go Lean commentaries; see a sample list here:

The world of crypto-currency and electronic payment systems is here! But this is a good thing. The benefits of these new schemes are too enticing to ignore: fostering more e-Commerce, increasing regional money supply, mitigating Black Markets, more cruise tourism spending, growing the economy, creating jobs, enhancing security and optimizing governance.

Yep! Count us in!

Now is the time for all stakeholders of the Caribbean, (residents, visitors, merchants, vendors, bankers, and governing institutions), to lean-in for the empowerments described in the book Go Lean roadmap. These empowerments can help to make the Caribbean a better place to live, work and play. 🙂

About the Book
The book Go Lean…Caribbean serves as a roadmap for the introduction and implementation of the technocratic Caribbean Union Trade Federation (CU) and aligning Caribbean Central Bank (CCB), for the elevation of Caribbean society – for all member-states. This CU/Go Lean roadmap has these 3 prime directives:

• Optimization of the economic engines in order to grow the regional economy to $800 Billion and create 2.2 million new jobs.
• Establishment of a security apparatus to ensure public safety and protect the resultant economic engines.
• Improve Caribbean governance to support these engines, including a separation-of-powers between the member-states and CU federal agencies.

The CCB provides a comprehensive role in this roadmap: facilitating and settling interbank transactions for the region, especially in light of the introduction of for new digital payment systems: new cards, telephony apps and crypto-currency. The Go Lean book provides 370-pages of turn-by-turn instructions on these solutions; and on “how” to adopt new community ethos, plus the strategies, tactics, implementations and advocacies to execute so as to reboot, reform and transform the societal engines of Caribbean society.

Download the free e-Book of Go Lean … Caribbean – now!

Who We Are
The movement behind the Go Lean book – a non-partisan, apolitical, religiously-neutral Community Development Foundation chartered for the purpose of empowering and re-booting economic engines – stresses that reforming and transforming the Caribbean societal engines must be a regional pursuit. This was an early motivation for the roadmap, as pronounced in the opening Declaration of Interdependence (Pages 12 – 13):

xi. Whereas all men are entitled to the benefits of good governance in a free society, “new guards” must be enacted to dissuade the emergence of incompetence, corruption, nepotism and cronyism at the peril of the people’s best interest. The Federation must guarantee the executions of a social contract between government and the governed.

xvi. Whereas security of our homeland is inextricably linked to prosperity of the homeland, the economic and security interest of the region needs to be aligned under the same governance. Since economic crimes … can imperil the functioning of the wheels of commerce for all the citizenry, the accedence of this Federation must equip the security apparatus with the tools and techniques for predictive and proactive interdictions.

xxiv. Whereas a free market economy can be induced and spurred for continuous progress, the Federation must install the controls to better manage aspects of the economy: jobs, inflation, savings rate, investments and other economic principles. Thereby attracting direct foreign investment because of the stability and vibrancy of our economy.

Sign the petition to lean-in for this roadmap for the Caribbean Union Trade Federation.

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Appendix A – JPMorgan launches ‘JPM Coin’ cryptocurrency, becomes first major bank to create its own digital coin By: Jade Scipioni

Nearly two years after JPMorgan Chase chief Jamie Dimon Opens a New Window. famously bashed bitcoin, calling it a “fraud,” the big bank announces it has created its own  cryptocurrency Opens a New Window. prototype.

Dubbed JPM Coin, the new tokens, which will be the first cryptocurrency backed by a U.S. bank, are set to be tested to instantly settle transactions, on a small portion of payments, among clients of the big bank’s wholesale payments business.

“The JPM Coin isn’t money per se. It is a digital coin representing United States Dollars held in designated accounts at JPMorganChase,” the company said in a press release.

In short, a JPM Coin will have a fixed value redeemable for one U.S. dollar. However, it won’t trade freely like bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies.

“When one client sends money to another over the blockchain, JPM Coins are transferred and instantaneously redeemed for the equivalents amount of U.S. dollars, reducing the typical settlement time,” the company added.

JPMorgan Opens a New Window. said it believes the new technology can help lower costs and risks associated with big money transfers around the world.

While the new tokens are initially designed for major ‘institutional clients’ for business-to-business transactions, not individuals, the cost-savings and efficiency benefits “would extend to the end customers of our institutional clients,” the company said.

The news does not come as a surprise either, as JPMorgan has been leading the charge in testing blockchain payments for more than two years.

As reported by FOX Business last September,Opens a New Window. more than 157 banks globally have joined a blockchain-based payment project led by JPMorgan to test how to streamline cross-border transactions.

The shared ledger called Interbank Information Network (IIN) was built by Dimon’s team in 2017 through its own blockchain platform called Quorum.

While Dimon did famously call bitcoin a “fraud” and “worse than tulip bulbs” — a reference to the 17th century economic bubble  — he and his key managers have consistently said that blockchain and regulated digital currencies do have promise.

Source: Posted February 14, 2019; retrieved February 19, 2019 from: https://www.foxbusiness.com/features/jpmorgan-set-to-roll-out-the-first-bank-backed-cryptocurrency

—— Related: Several banks (75) have now joined JPMORGAN to test Blockchain Payments

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Appendix B – Belarus’ Biggest Bank is ‘Working on’ Launching Its Own Cryptocurrency Exchange
By: Jimmy Aki, CCN
According to a report by local news outlet BeITA, Belarusbank, the largest bank in Belarus, is considering the launch of its very own cryptocurrency exchange platform.

The plans for the exchange were revealed by Viktor Ananich, the Chairman of Belrusbank’s board. Speaking with Belarus 1 TV channel, Ananich remarked:

“We are considering a possibility to establish a cryptocurrency exchange. We are working on it.”

For Belarusbank, Digitization is the Future
The bank is looking to intensify its focus on digitization, and it is reportedly seeking ways to expand its range of services by forming alliances with various mobile service providers. In addition to the reported cryptocurrency exchange, BeITA also stated that the bank is in the process of issuing virtual cards soon.

Source: Posted January 31, 2019; retrieved February 20, 2019 from: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/belarus-biggest-bank-working-launching-155444267.html

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Appendix C – Sweden Officially Backs a Cryptocurrency and Establishes It As Their Official Coin

It’s finally happened. A major worldwide government has just bestowed a huge vote of confidence and legitimacy onto the world of cryptocurrencies. Sweden, in an unprecedented move, just announced that they are officially adopting a certain cryptocurrency as Sweden’s official coin!

The Swedish government just informed us that they have chosen a preferred firm for the purchase and marketing of their new coin – Kryptonex Research Group. The sales of Sweden’s coin officially started on Friday, April 27th and currently these coins can be bought only from Kryptonex Research Group.

Industry experts weren’t surprised when Kryptonex was chosen by Sweden as their preferred firm for the release of their official coin. They had all seen for their own eyes the cutting edge insight that Kryptonex had brought to the cryptocurrency markets for their clients.

See the full article here: https://elevenews.com/2018/04/28/sweden-officially-backs-cryptocurrency-and-establishes-it-as-their-official-coin/ – posted April 28, 2018; retrieved January 20, 2018.