The single-community corporation owned white town of Orania in South Africa is slowly moving to its own cryptocurrency as a symbol of protest against national politics, according to a report by Wired.
It has always had its own say in its future after the abolishment of apartheid in South Africa and has had its own currency since then. Dawie Roodt, a chief economist in Praetoria and resident in Orania, has blunt words to say about the political dysfunction in his country:
“South Africa is a very exciting place for us libertarians. People are forced to do what the government is supposed to do for them.”
And for Roodt, the key to his vision of a “state-proof” existence unbridled by government intervention is blockchain technology. On top of that is a currency running on a decentralized system of computers with a cryptographically secure database — Bitcoin being the prime example. Advocates of crypto in Orania see this as a rallying point.
They already have the Ora, its own native currency and is pegged to the South African rand. Issued and controlled by The Orania Spaar en Krediet Kooperatiewe Bank or OSK, they are now considering to move it to a digital version resembling a crypto.
If established, it would be called the e-Ora, and can be exchanged for a rand or regular Ora at a 1:1 ratio. Apparently, some places in neighboring cities accept Ora, and will also accept e-Ora, but there aren’t many yet.
The new process will allow more transparency but also requires a lot more trust. Orania will manage servers and issue new currency to visitors but they have their own problems — they claim not to be racist but have never had a black resident.
But residents say this that they have nothing more than cultural pride and a desire for symbolic disconnect with the corruption in South Africa.
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