Maya Parbhoe, presidential candidate of Suriname, has promised to dissolve the central bank if elected, preparing to establish a legal standard for cryptocurrency, and to follow El Salvador in becoming the next country to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender. Parbhoe, as the CEO of Daedalus Labs, proposed a bold plan that if she wins the upcoming 2025 election, she will combat corruption and bring tangible benefits to citizens through the adoption of a Bitcoin standard. Her top priority is to make Bitcoin legal tender. In her first year, she plans to gradually replace the Surinamese dollar with Satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin) and ensure that all salaries are paid in Bitcoin, aiming to establish a Bitcoin nation that is even more deeply rooted in cryptocurrency than El Salvador.
Her plans for Suriname go far beyond making Bitcoin legal tender; they also include dissolving the central bank, cutting taxes, privatizing public services, issuing national Bitcoin bonds, and implementing large-scale deregulation. While many politicians have recently jumped on the cryptocurrency bandwagon, Parbhoe has been researching Bitcoin for the past decade. She noted that she has always been interested in technology, a curiosity inherited from her father. She said she was fascinated by tech stocks and the internet market from a young age. In 2014, her curiosity led her to develop an interest in cryptocurrency, and she began joining a Telegram group called Whale Pool and attended several cryptocurrency conferences. "I am completely immersed in this rabbit hole and have decided to dedicate the rest of my life to it. If there is one cause you are truly willing to commit to, it is Bitcoin." Parbhoe began studying how global financial markets operate. To her surprise, she found that Suriname's financial infrastructure was very weak, even non-existent. Parbhoe stated that the Suriname Central Bank and commercial banks used simple Excel spreadsheets to determine exchange rates, and at that time Suriname lacked capital markets, which hindered Suriname's economic growth. Parbhoe saw an opportunity to build financial infrastructure from scratch without repeating the mistakes of the fiat currency system. "We need to build an alternative, where we do not repeat the original problems that caused this chaos, but instead create a new system based on what Satoshi Nakamoto pioneered." Parbhoe also viewed Bitcoin as a way to address the rampant corruption in Suriname, having personally experienced corruption when her father was murdered. On May 18, 2023, Parbhoe met with prominent cryptocurrency entrepreneur Samson Mow at the Bitcoin conference in Miami, where she described Suriname as the next country likely to follow in El Salvador's footsteps. In the following months, Parbhoe connected Mow's team with key individuals who could help make Bitcoin legal tender in the country. Mow and Parbhoe prepared a one-page proposal to make Bitcoin legal tender through an executive order from the foreign exchange committee, which would not require parliamentary approval. However, Suriname's current president Chan Santokh stated that he first needed to verify this with his advisor Paul Mehilal, who is the owner of the IT consulting firm Qualology and also the chairman of E-gov, the digital platform responsible for formulating IT policies for the government. Parbhoe claimed that Mehilal directly solicited a bribe from her in exchange for his support of the Bitcoin legal tender proposal, even suggesting that she should also take a cut. "Mehilal asked, if I help Mow, what can I get? He also asked what I could get? He suggested that I must get a share or monetary compensation." Mehilal also introduced Parbhoe to a large-scale Bitcoin mining operation he secretly conducted in Suriname's Paramaribo district, claiming to have invested $20 million to expand the mining capacity to 100 trillion watts, which Parbhoe stated accounted for a significant portion of the country's energy supply. Mehilal hoped that Bitcoin would not become the focus of Suriname's attention because he was concerned that it might draw unnecessary scrutiny of his mining activities from outside. Parbhoe said she realized that to protect his personal interests, Mehilal might suggest to the president not to designate Bitcoin as legal tender. Months went by without any action from the Santokh government. Parbhoe felt frustrated and decided to publicly disclose on Suriname's largest podcast, hosted by Dave van Aerde, how corruption was hindering the possibility of Suriname adopting Bitcoin as legal tender. After the podcast ended, she began receiving what appeared to be evidence of Mehilal's cryptocurrency mining operations, showing abnormally high electricity consumption associated with an IT consulting company located in Suriname. Parbhoe shared the electricity bills of Mehilal's IT consulting firm, Qualogy Caribbean, from February 2024, which according to its website employed over 90 people. The monthly bills showed that the monthly electricity expenditure reached 3.5 million Surinamese dollars (SRD), approximately $100,000.
On May 3, 2024, an incident erupted in parliament, where National Democratic Party (NDP) leader Rabin Parmessar demanded clarification from the government regarding the massive amount of electricity supplied by the state-owned grid to Bitcoin mining facilities. The bills presented by Parmessar showed that over 45 trillion watts of electricity were consumed in two months, which could at least power 12,000 households. Qualology Caribbean denies any connection to the Bitcoin mining facilities, claiming this is Mehilal's independent action. Despite the uproar, Suriname's Attorney General Paragsingh and other prosecutors did not initiate an investigation. Parbhoe stated that Paragsingh "was bought off by the president," which prevented her from taking further action. Parbhoe claimed that corruption in Suriname is deeply rooted and asserted, "No corruption cases will be prosecuted," further accusing the "president of cartel funding." Parbhoe faced strong opposition for her statements, even receiving death threats. The possibility of Suriname adopting Bitcoin as legal tender seemed to have vanished until Mow recommended Parbhoe for the presidential run. Parbhoe took months to decide to enter politics, as it could mean the end of her private life and freedom. However, she ultimately decided to take the risk. "When I exposed this corruption, I decided I would fight for it; now it's 2025, one person, one vote." In 2023, Suriname changed its electoral system, giving equal weight to each citizen's vote. Under the previous system, candidates in the largest district, Paramaribo, needed to obtain over 7,000 votes to secure a parliamentary seat. In contrast, candidates in the smallest district, Coronie, needed only 300 votes to be elected. Parbhoe stated that the old system led to electoral fraud, making it difficult for new parties or leaders to win elections. The one person, one vote system may provide Parbhoe with a path to the presidency. She pointed out that her main motivation is to eliminate the long-standing corruption she found in the central bank, financial sector, and commercial banks, adding that corruption exists in "every sector of the country's industry." "Corruption is destroying this country, blocking billions of dollars in investments, and hindering development." Parbhoe stated that Satoshi Nakamoto "laid the foundation with Bitcoin, separating currency from the state," thus making the base layer unmanipulable because "everything is transparent." If the national economy is based on Bitcoin, the government budget will be transparent and traceable, "we will become an open-source government." She also hopes to create "a corruption bounty program so that anyone in the world can uncover corrupt practices in the system and receive a reward for reporting." Parbhoe's vision has garnered strong support from the Bitcoin community, bringing a glimmer of hope for her fight against systemic corruption. Only time will tell if the momentum she has built is enough to reshape the future of this country.
Maya Parbhoe, presidential candidate of Suriname, has promised to dissolve the central bank if elected, preparing to establish a legal standard for cryptocurrency, and to follow El Salvador in becoming the next country to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender. Once in office, she stated that she would designate Bitcoin as legal tender.
Parbhoe, as the CEO of Daedalus Labs, proposed a bold plan that if she wins the upcoming 2025 election, she will combat corruption and bring tangible benefits to citizens through the adoption of a Bitcoin standard. Her top priority is to make Bitcoin legal tender.
In her first year, she plans to gradually replace the Surinamese dollar with Satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin) and ensure that all salaries are paid in Bitcoin, aiming to establish a Bitcoin nation that is even more deeply rooted in cryptocurrency than El Salvador.
Her plans for Suriname go far beyond making Bitcoin legal tender; they also include dissolving the central bank, cutting taxes, privatizing public services, issuing national Bitcoin bonds, and implementing large-scale deregulation.
While many politicians have recently jumped on the cryptocurrency bandwagon, Parbhoe has been researching Bitcoin for the past decade.
She pointed out that she has always been interested in technology, a curiosity inherited from her father. She said she was fascinated by tech stocks and the internet market from a young age.
In 2014, her curiosity led her to develop an interest in cryptocurrency, and she began joining a Telegram group called Whale Pool and attended several cryptocurrency conferences.
"I am completely immersed in this rabbit hole and have decided to dedicate the rest of my life to it. If there is one cause you are truly willing to commit to, it is Bitcoin."
Parbhoe began studying how global financial markets operate. To her surprise, she found that Suriname's financial infrastructure was very weak, even non-existent.
Parbhoe stated that the Suriname Central Bank and commercial banks used simple Excel spreadsheets to determine exchange rates, and at that time Suriname lacked capital markets, which hindered Suriname's economic growth.
Parbhoe saw an opportunity to build financial infrastructure from scratch without repeating the mistakes of the fiat currency system. "We need to build an alternative, where we do not repeat the original problems that caused this chaos, but instead create a new system based on what Satoshi Nakamoto pioneered."
Parbhoe also viewed Bitcoin as a way to address the rampant corruption in Suriname, having personally experienced corruption when her father was murdered.
On May 18, 2023, Parbhoe met with prominent cryptocurrency entrepreneur Samson Mow at the Bitcoin conference in Miami, where she described Suriname as the next country likely to follow in El Salvador's footsteps. In the following months, Parbhoe connected Mow's team with key individuals who could help make Bitcoin legal tender in the country.
Mow and Parbhoe prepared a one-page proposal to make Bitcoin legal tender through an executive order from the foreign exchange committee, which would not require parliamentary approval.
However, Suriname's current president Chan Santokh stated that he first needed to verify this with his advisor Paul Mehilal, who is the owner of the IT consulting firm Qualology and also the chairman of E-gov, the digital platform responsible for formulating IT policies for the government.
Parbhoe claimed that Mehilal directly solicited a bribe from her in exchange for his support of the Bitcoin legal tender proposal, even suggesting that she should also take a cut.
"Mehilal asked, if I help Mow, what can I get? He also asked what I could get? He suggested that I must get a share or monetary compensation."
Mehilal also introduced Parbhoe to a large-scale Bitcoin mining operation he secretly conducted in Suriname's Paramaribo district, claiming to have invested $20 million to expand the mining capacity to 100 trillion watts, which Parbhoe stated accounted for a significant portion of the country's energy supply.
Mehilal hoped that Bitcoin would not become the focus of Suriname's attention because he was concerned that it might draw unnecessary scrutiny of his mining activities from outside. Parbhoe said she realized that to protect his personal interests, Mehilal might suggest to the president not to designate Bitcoin as legal tender.
Months went by without any action from the Santokh government.
Parbhoe felt frustrated and decided to publicly disclose on Suriname's largest podcast, hosted by Dave van Aerde, how corruption was hindering the possibility of Suriname adopting Bitcoin as legal tender.
After the podcast ended, she began receiving what appeared to be evidence of Mehilal's cryptocurrency mining operations, showing abnormally high electricity consumption associated with an IT consulting company located in Suriname.
Parbhoe shared the electricity bills of Mehilal's IT consulting firm, Qualogy Caribbean, from February 2024, which according to its website employed over 90 people. The monthly bills showed that the monthly electricity expenditure reached 3.5 million Surinamese dollars (SRD), approximately $100,000.
On May 3, 2024, an incident erupted in parliament, where National Democratic Party (NDP) leader Rabin Parmessar demanded clarification from the government regarding the massive amount of electricity supplied by the state-owned grid to Bitcoin mining facilities. The bills presented by Parmessar showed that over 45 trillion watts of electricity were consumed in two months, which could at least power 12,000 households.
Qualology Caribbean denies any connection to the Bitcoin mining facilities, claiming this is Mehilal's independent action. Despite the uproar, Suriname's Attorney General Paragsingh and other prosecutors did not initiate an investigation.
Parbhoe stated that Paragsingh "was bought off by the president," which prevented her from taking further action. Parbhoe claimed that corruption in Suriname is deeply rooted and asserted, "No corruption cases will be prosecuted," further accusing the "president of cartel funding."
Parbhoe faced strong opposition for her statements, even receiving death threats.
The possibility of Suriname adopting Bitcoin as legal tender seemed to have vanished until Mow recommended Parbhoe for the presidential run.
Parbhoe took months to decide to enter politics, as it could mean the end of her private life and freedom. However, she ultimately decided to take the risk.
"When I exposed this corruption, I decided I would fight for it; now it's 2025, one person, one vote."
In 2023, Suriname changed its electoral system, giving equal weight to each citizen's vote. Under the previous system, candidates in the largest district, Paramaribo, needed to obtain over 7,000 votes to secure a parliamentary seat. In contrast, candidates in the smallest district, Coronie, needed only 300 votes to be elected.
Parbhoe stated that the old system led to electoral fraud, making it difficult for new parties or leaders to win elections. The one person, one vote system may provide Parbhoe with a path to the presidency.
She pointed out that her main motivation is to eliminate the long-standing corruption she found in the central bank, financial sector, and commercial banks, adding that corruption exists in 'every sector of the country's industry.'
"Corruption is destroying this country, blocking billions of dollars in investments, and hindering development."
Parbhoe stated that Satoshi Nakamoto "laid the foundation with Bitcoin, separating currency from the state," thus making the base layer unmanipulable because "everything is transparent."
If the national economy is based on Bitcoin, the government budget will be transparent and traceable, "we will become an open-source government."
She also hopes to create "a corruption bounty program so that anyone in the world can uncover corrupt practices in the system and receive a reward for reporting."
Parbhoe's vision has garnered strong support from the Bitcoin community, bringing a glimmer of hope for her fight against systemic corruption. Only time will tell if the momentum she has built is enough to reshape the future of this country.
