Uruguay, the South American country best known for its verdant interior, tough-tackling football team and beach-lined coast, is fast becoming one of the world’s most forward-thinking crypto hub. With a large number of fiat currencies struggling in South America, cryptocurrency trading in the continent appears to be booming, none more than so in than Uraguay.
Earlier in September, Uruguay’s financial chiefs appeared to have made a volte-face on the country’s cryptocurrency and blockchain policy, Alberto Graña, governor of the country’s central bank, the Banco Central del Uruguay (BCU), told attendees at a blockchain conference that the “best thing that can happen” would be “to have an attentive regulator that promotes healthy development.” The governor signalled that the country with a population of fewer than 4 million people may now look to embrace crypto and blockchain technology instead of pushing it to the sidelines.
Hot on the heels of the crypto and blockchain u-turn last month, Aeternity, the blockchain-focused decentralized application (DApp) announced a partnership with Uruguay Can to enable cannabis tracking via blockchain and help monitor Uruguay Can’s movements of recreational and medical cannabis. Uruguay was the first country in the world to fully legalize the production and sale of cannabis in December 2013.
The link-up is aimed at Aeternity securing the shipments whilst also saving considerable money via delivery networks by the use of blockchain technology. At the time, Pablo Coirolo, the CEO of Aeternity Americas, said:
“We want to be the first to offer a business-level solution in partnership with leading technology providers and cannabis producers, processors and distributors. […] æternity technology is ideal for tracking the entire cannabis production process, from seed to full plant growth, throughout the entire supply chain, which ensures consumer safety while complying with regulations.”
Aeternity Americas CEO Pablo Coirolo
Cannabis and Now Democracy
Having embraced the cannabis industry, Aeternity has now teamed up with the Uruguay Digital Party to develop an internal blockchain voting system.
Founded in 2013, The Uruguay Digital Party aims to revolutionize Uruguay’s political scene and push for technological innovation. The partnership brings the political party a big step closer to achieving its goals.
The partnership intends to create a blockchain voting system will be used by both party members and the public for voting in order to make internal voting transparent and more accessible. As well as establishing a fast and easy method of communication, the joint project will also be used to build a blockchain-powered database.
Whether Uruguay can become the world’s leading hub for all things crypto and blockchain remains to be seen. However, in just a few short months, the government, political parties and big business are making all the right moves.
