GoodDollar: cryptocurrencies would end inequality

A few days ago, Yoni Assia presented at the Web Summit, one of the biggest technological events of the moment, its new initiative. GoodDollar seeks, through the use of blockchain technology and the creation of a cryptocurrency, to solve one of the biggest and most complicated problems in the world: the poverty that has been generated by social and economic inequality.

Leer en español: GoodDollar: las criptomonedas le pondrían fin a la inequidad

The idea behind the project

According to the GoodDollar page, the 42 richest people in the world have more money than the poorest 3.7 billion, a figure close to half of the total population of the earth. This impressive number led Assia and Omri Ross to develop this experiment, based on a theoretical basis that can even be found attached to its page.

In addition, they also show that 20% of the world's wealthiest are owners of 94% of all wealth and, this means billions of people a daily confrontation to survive poverty, war and political injustice.

Another problem that they mention, that they also try to solve with the project, is the unemployment that has been coming by technology. They clarify that by 2030, automation and artificial intelligence would be displacing around 800 million jobs, a fifth of the global workforce.

The project has as its mission to develop a new cryptocurrency on a global scale and open source to distribute money through the principles of a Universal Basic Income (UBI).

This concept by which they intend to govern the program is a social security system in which all citizens of a given country receive a sum of money that comes without conditions, that is, regardless of whether the person is unemployed or not. This money would be received on a regular basis by the government or a public institution, in addition to the external income that people already have.

Countries such as Finland and Canada have already carried out UBI pilot programs.

Assia and Ross say that the inequality caused by wealth is a barrier that stops people from unleashing their true potential. So, since everyone has a regular income, as the UBI would allow, everyone could cover their basic needs and thus be able to plan a better future.

Also read: Bitcoin: What can you buy with cryptocurrencies?

Figures like Martin Luther King and Barack Obama have supported the ideal behind it. For example, according to the Mic portal, Obama showed his support for this type of fiscal policies, since for him, work not only provides money, but dignity, structure and a sense of belonging.

How would it work?

In their investigative paper, in which they explain the background of all GoodDollar, they demonstrate how the experiment would be carried out and how it would work.

This would be another step towards the evolution of digital money. It would take the decentralized essence with which Bitcoin was originally born and raise it to other levels to combat inequality. They do this through 'smart contracts' supported by blockchain technology, to exchange money, property, stocks, or any other source of value, in a transparent and non-conflictive manner.

Smart contracts are small code strips that execute transfers under certain conditions, allowing policy makers to automate essential tasks in relation to the distribution and collection of the funds involved.

The blockchain would assure them responsibility, transparency and the possibility of tracking each step. This way they can not only gain the trust of the people, but also avoid problems such as corruption, money laundering and bureaucratic inefficiencies.

GoodDollar would be affordable for everyone no matter where you are in the world, interchangeable with other standard currencies, it will have low transaction costs and, ultimately, ensure an equitable distribution.

The project is sponsored by the global leader in eToro investment platforms, since its founder is Assia. The team of this platform has the task of developing open source solutions to make the implementation of UBI in the most practical way with blockchain.

LatinAmerican Post | Valentina Moya
Translated from “GoodDollar: las criptomonedas como solución a la inequidad”

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