On Friday, May 25th, 2018 Team McAfee published the Declaration of Currency Independence which is a pledge of solidarity to what many would say are the core principles of the cryptocurrency movement. Although I do not speak for the authors, I was given an advanced copy prior to the mass distribution and have direct contact with some of those inside Team McAfee and can speak to the document’s authenticity and altruistic intentions. Under the leadership of the famous cryptocurrency evangelist John McAfee, Team McAfee is requesting readership of and signatories to this declaration. The promise of cryptocurrency is essentially the freedom to transact online without government intervention. Most governments form not to oppress, but simply to organize, to manage and to do good for others through unity. But when an organization forms it has a purpose, a problem or many problems that it tries to solve. Eventually, those problems are solved or at least under control and then the organization’s purpose tends to shift. At that point, most organizations change from trying to solve a problem, to simply trying to remain relevant, to survive, and often to grow.

When governments start to grow political debates arise over the parallel “expansion of powers” that ensue. One side will argue the government needs more authority in order to solve more problems while the other side will argue the government needs less authority and more power is just the byproduct of its search for relevance, sustainment, and growth.

The Declaration of Currency Independence makes the bold point that when governments of the world shifted from commodity backed currency which sets natural limits on currency powers to fiat based currency which is limited only by decisions, these governments moved from solving real problems to seeking relevance, survival, and growth. Specifically, the Declaration states, “Money and currency as understood by the global population are no longer an expression of the collective output of exertion, but rather an arbitrary calculation of unaccountable individuals and organizations that hold them in their influence.” 

Similar Declarations

The parallels between the Declaration of Currency Independence and the United States Declaration of Independence are clear. Both documents start the same way “When in the Course of human events…” Both documents seek the support of the people. But perhaps most importantly, the principles of self-determination are espoused in both. The United States Declaration of Independence says, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” In the United States, the government is constructed of the people, for people, and by the people, and it is the people who run their own government. While all the world does not operate under those same freedoms, this principle of a government that serves the people likely led the authors of this document to publish it in the hopes to remind us all that everyone deserves to be free.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency are spreading freedom throughout the world and for the most part, reasonable governments have supported that expansion. While almost all governments have reacted with some fear and taken some actions to slow the growth, reasonable people recognize that in the modern world, an Internet-based peer to peer network is an uncontrollable force. Some try to control it, most tend to ignore it, but as with all apps, when an app is useful enough to gain a lot of users, that app can eventually take its place in human history as a new pillar of society. Will Bitcoin (available on Coinbase), Ethereum (available on Coinbase), Stellar, MilitaryToken, and other cryptocurrencies take their place as pillars of society…they already have. The only question that remains is for how long, and what comes next?

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