Suriname the next Bitcoin Nation? Crypto inspires Parbhoe to fight corruption

As a seasoned observer of global politics and economics, I find Parbhoe’s story both captivating and inspiring. Her journey from a private life to politics is reminiscent of Satoshi Nakamoto’s anonymous creation of Bitcoin – a testament to the power of one person with a vision.


In simpler terms, the presidential hopeful of Suriname, Maya Parbhoe, aspires to create a country that is exceptionally reliant on Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, surpassing the level of integration seen in Nayib Bukele’s El Salvador.

Parbhoe, currently CEO of Daedalus Labs which specializes in Bitcoin and NOSTR services, has proposed an ambitious strategy to combat corruption and provide real advantages to citizens by implementing a Bitcoin standard. This plan would be put into action if she successfully wins the 2025 elections.

She intends to focus on making Bitcoin (BTC) a valid form of currency upon taking office, and within her first year, she plans to phase out the Surinamese dollar in favor of sats incrementally. Furthermore, she aims to ensure that all wages are paid using BTC.

Instead of just making Bitcoin legal tender, her proposed approach for Suriname goes much further. It involves dissolving the central bank, reducing taxes, transferring public services to private ownership, launching national Bitcoin bond offerings, and aggressively easing regulations across the board.

As a researcher with a decade-long immersion in the world of cryptocurrencies, I find myself uniquely positioned compared to those contemporary politicians who are just now discovering the allure of digital assets such as Bitcoin.

The presidential hopeful told CryptoMoon that she was always interested in technology, a curiosity inherited from her father. She said she was obsessed with tech stocks and the Dot.com markets when she was a child. 

2014 marked the year when her inquisitiveness led her into the world of cryptocurrencies. She started participating in a Telegram community known as Whale Pool and took part in numerous cryptocurrency conventions.

“I completely dove into the rabbit hole and decided to dedicate the rest of my life to it. If there’s a cause that you could literally die on this hill for, Bitcoin would be it.”

Parbhoe started exploring the workings of international finance systems. To her astonishment, she found that Suriname’s financial structure was quite fragile or absent altogether.

As stated by Parbhoe, the Central Bank of Suriname and its commercial banking counterparts relied on a straightforward Excel spreadsheet to calculate the currency exchange rate. The absence of developed capital markets, however, posed a significant challenge to Suriname’s economic expansion.

Parbhoe recognized a chance to establish a new financial framework from the ground up, aiming to avoid repeating the errors of the traditional fiat system.

“We need to build an alternative where we don’t replicate the same issues that created this mess in the first place, but build on top of what Satoshi Nakamoto started and build a new system.”

Additionally, Parbhoe considers Bitcoin as a potential solution to tackle the widespread corruption in Suriname, a problem that she and her family have personally experienced when her father was reportedly assassinated during a nationwide scandal.

Maya Parbhoe’s tragic experience with corruption

The fierce determination within Parbhoe to combat corruption ignited at the age of thirteen, following the tragic murder of her father, Winod Parbhoe, in a drive-by shooting.

The tragedy took place shortly after he blew the whistle to several authorities, including the CIA, that millions of US dollars were being funneled to bank accounts at BNY Mellon through De Surinaamsche Bank (DSB), the largest bank in Suriname. The funds were allegedly used to finance the Colombian guerrilla group FARC. 

As an analyst examining Suriname’s thriving casino sector, I’ve often pondered on rumors connecting its operations to the illicit drug trade of South America and allegations of money laundering.

Winod teamed up with Australian entrepreneur Dallas Dempster to launch a casino in Suriname. However, he uncovered that Jeffrey Clague, the local manager of the casino who hails from New Zealand, was reportedly transferring funds via their casino accounts in DSB to Dempster’s companies based in Miami and registered as CCA, which were accused of money laundering activities.

As an analyst, I’ve uncovered evidence suggesting that funds were being channeled, presumably by Cluge, towards Sarkis Soghanalian, a figure infamously known as the “merchant of death.” This individual was notorious for providing arms to rebellious groups in Lebanon, Nicaragua, Colombia, and other turbulent regions.

Among the most significant unresolved corruption-related mysteries in Suriname, the untimely demises of Parbhoe’s father and his attorney, Eddy Bruma, who met his unfortunate end a year ago, are included.

In this instance, Surinamese legal authorities spearheaded a significant court action against DSB and its head, Sigmund Proeve. Assets belonging to the bank that were relevant to the case were confiscated. Initially, the bank was found guilty; however, this decision was reversed upon appeal.

In the midst of the tragic news of Winod’s passing, our family faced another significant blow – the dissolution of our financial resources, primarily stemming from our casino enterprise. As it turned out, our assets were progressively confiscated due to their implication in the ongoing corruption investigation.

Parbhoe and her mother experienced a drastic change from being financially well-off to struggling financially. As Parbhoe reported, an investigation conducted independently later established that approximately $16.4 million was stolen from their bank accounts.

On June 11th, 2024, the court determined that neither Parbhoe nor her mother owned any rights to the funds at hand. Parbhoe now suspects that the judge was bribed. They have lodged an appeal against this decision, but given the lengthy nature of the appeals process and her lack of faith in the integrity of the new judges assigned to the case, she is skeptical about their impartiality.

Parbhoe suggests that Suriname could experience a significant change if it manages to eliminate corruption, taking cues from Nayib Bukele’s achievements in transforming El Salvador from a notorious crime hub into a country where crime is less prevalent.

She claims she has the ability to introduce comparable groundbreaking reforms within Suriname by harnessing the power of Bitcoin for enhanced transparency in the nation’s public budgets, thus aiding in the dismantling of deep-rooted corruption.

For Parbhoe, Bitcoin is not just a financial tool but a critical means of creating a transparent, accountable governance system that could pave the way for Suriname’s revitalization.

For the past six years, Parbhoe has collaborated intimately with Surinamese political figures via her diverse local entrepreneurial endeavors.

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Initially, she hadn’t given a thought to politics. However, it was only after Samson Mow motivated her that she decided to pursue a presidential campaign.

Currently, Mow serves as the CEO for the Bitcoin incubator known as Jan3, an entity that significantly contributed to El Salvador’s transition into embracing Bitcoin.

In November 2023, a proposal put forth by Mow aimed at making Bitcoin a legitimate currency in Suriname almost became a reality as a result of collective efforts.

Establishing a Bitcoin standard

On May 18th, 2023, Parbhoe and Mow came together at the Miami Bitcoin Conference. Here, Parbhoe proposed Suriname as a promising candidate to adopt the path El Salvador has taken regarding Bitcoin. In the subsequent months, Parbhoe facilitated connections between Mow’s team and influential individuals who could aid in making Bitcoin a legal tender within Suriname.

Following multiple highly favorable discussions, they’ve achieved substantial advancement. In fact, President Chan Santokhi of Suriname expressed his desire to emulate Bukele in El Salvador by acknowledging Bitcoin as a legitimate currency.

Mow and Parbhoe drafted a single-page plan aimed at making Bitcoin a valid currency, achievable via an executive decree from the Foreign Exchange Commission. This decree would not require approval from Parliament.

However, Santokhi mentioned that he’d initially want to consult with his advisor, Paul Mehilal, who is both the owner of IT consultant firm Qualogy and the chairperson of E-gov, the government’s digital platform overseeing IT policy development.

In my own words, I can confirm that during our conversation, Mehilal explicitly requested a bribe from me, offering his support for the Bitcoin legal tender proposal in return. Interestingly, he also proposed that I should keep a portion of this bribe for myself as well.

“Mehilal asked, if I help Samson, what’s in it for me? He also asked me, what I was getting out of it? He advised me to make sure that I get a cut out of it or monetary compensation.” 

Mehilal shared with Parbhoe details about his covert Bitcoin mining project based in Suriname’s Paranam district, which he stated required an investment of $20 million to boost its power output to 10 megawatts – a substantial chunk of the nation’s energy resources, as reported by Parbhoe.

Mehilal sought to avoid drawing attention to Bitcoin in Suriname because he was concerned that its association with his mining operations might invite unwanted attention or investigation. Parbhoe understood that, to safeguard his own interests, Mehilal would probably recommend the president against making Bitcoin a legal tender.

Several months went by with no action from Santokhi’s administration. 

In response to growing frustration, Parbhoe chose to speak publicly on Suriname’s most popular podcast hosted by Dave van Aerde, revealing that corruption was impeding the potential for Suriname to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender.

Following the podcast, it seemed like she started getting indications, which looked like proof, of Mehilal possibly running a cryptocurrency mining business. These signs pointed towards abnormal electricity consumption connected to an IT consulting firm situated in Suriname.

I recently came across an intriguing piece of information shared with CryptoMoon, which made me sit up and take notice as a crypto investor. It was a February 2024 electricity bill from Qualogy Carribean, Mehilal’s IT consultancy firm that employs over ninety individuals, according to their website. This bill revealed an astonishing monthly expenditure of approximately 3.5 million Surinamese dollars (SRD), equivalent to around $100,000 US dollars (USD) in electricity usage.

On May 3, 2024, a heated situation unfolded in Parliament when Rabin Parmessar, head of the National Democratic Party (NDP), pressed the government for transparency regarding the large quantities of electricity supplied by the state-run power grid to a Bitcoin mining facility.

Parmessar revealed electricity bills showing usage exceeding 4.5 million watts during a span of two months. Melvin Bouva from the NDP stated that such energy consumption is enough to power approximately 12,000 homes.

In a statement, Qualogy Caribbean denied any connection to the Bitcoin mining operation, stating it was an autonomous venture led by Mehilal. Regardless of the uproar, Attorney General Paragsingh and other legal officials chose not to initiate an inquiry into the matter.

CryptoMoon reached out to Mehilal for comment but did not receive a response.

As a researcher, I found myself hesitant to delve deeper into my investigation due to statements made by Parbhoe. He implied that Paragsingh is under the influence of the president, which casts a shadow on any potential actions I might take. His assertions about Suriname’s corruption landscape are concerning: he claims that no corruption cases are ever prosecuted and goes so far as to allege that the president receives funding from criminal cartels. These allegations paint a picture of a deeply corrupt system, one that could potentially impede my work.

Parbhoe has received backlash and even death threats because of her statements. 

It appeared that the prospect of Suriname adopting Bitcoin as legal tender had diminished, but then Mow suggested that Parbhoo should contest for presidency, potentially rekindling the discussion.

After a few months, Parbhoo wrestled with the decision to enter politics, understanding it might signify the conclusion of her personal life’s privacy and liberties. However, in the end, she mustered the courage to dive headfirst into this new endeavor.

“When I uncovered this corruption is when I decided I’m fucking going for it! It’s 2025, one man, one vote.”

As a researcher, I found myself reflecting on the electoral system changes that occurred in Suriname during 2023. Previously, the disparity between constituencies led to an unequal representation – for instance, candidates vying for a parliamentary seat in Paramaribo, the largest constituency at the time, needed over 7,000 votes to secure their position, whereas those running in Coronie, the smallest constituency, required only 300 votes. However, with the recent shift, every citizen’s vote now carries equal weight, ensuring a more balanced and fair representation for all.

In simpler terms, Parbhoe argued that the previous voting system was flawed, allowing for electoral manipulation, and often made it challenging for new political parties or leaders to triumph in elections. However, a fair and democratic one-person, one-vote system might offer Parbhoe a chance at reaching the presidency.

As a passionate crypto investor, I’ve made it my mission to combat the persistent corruption I’ve witnessed within the Central Bank, financial institutions, and commercial banks. It’s disheartening to see how deeply entrenched this issue is, with corruption seemingly present in every sector of our nation’s industry.

“Corruption is ruining this country and preventing billions of dollars from investment coming in, hampering development.”

As a devoted crypto investor, I wholeheartedly agree with Parbhoe’s sentiment that Satoshi Nakamoto established a groundbreaking foundation with Bitcoin. By designing a decentralized digital currency, he effectively separated money from state control, ensuring it can’t be manipulated at the fundamental level. Transparency is key here; everything happening on the base layer of Bitcoin is openly visible to all participants, making any attempted manipulation nearly impossible.

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In a scenario where the national economy is built around Bitcoin, the government’s budget would offer unparalleled transparency and traceability. Essentially, this could lead to our nation functioning as a decentralized, open-source governance system.

Additionally, she proposes establishing a “reward system for uncovering corruption”, where anyone across the globe can discover instances of corruption within the system and be compensated for sharing their findings.

Parbhoe’s vision for change has gained considerable backing from the Bitcoin community, providing a spark of optimism as she tackles systemic corruption. Whether this growing support can ultimately transform the nation’s destiny remains to be seen.

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2024-11-25 17:23