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Context News Profile picture
@ContextNewsroom
Feb 7, 2022 • 8 tweets • 7 min read • Read on X
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☀️ Sun, sea and... NFTs?

🇵🇼 Pacific nation Palau is kicking off a digital residency scheme for so-called 'crypto-citizens.'

It hopes to revive its economy during COVID-19. But some are skeptical about what this means.

Here's what experts @PeterJHowson and @OJutel told us. 🧵👇
1️⃣ Why is the scheme happening?

🛥 Palau used to be a magnet for tourists and welcomed about 100,000 yachting enthusiasts each year.

💸But COVID-19 restrictions mean people have stayed away - and Palau’s cash is drying up.

⚡️ Now, it’s turning to #crypto to boost its economy.
2️⃣ How does it work?

💰 For just $248, anyone anywhere can apply for a limited edition #NFT ID card.

⭕️ This means they can:
🇵🇼 Use a Palauan business address
📜 Apply to change their name legally
⚡️ Open online accounts to trade #cryptocurrencies

news.trust.org/item/202202040…
3️⃣ What’s the catch?

🇵🇼 So-called 'crypto-citizens' are not automatically residents of Palau.

They won’t be able to open a business there or become a Palauan national.

⚡️ But the scheme could prove handy for Chinese and other investors whose nations don’t allow crypto trading.
4️⃣ Is it harmful?

📚 Experts @PeterJHowson and @OJutel says this is classic 'North-South exploitation.'

⚡️ Crypto developers look for places like Palau suffering from debt crises and other disasters.

⛔️ But few end up supporting local services or paying any tax.
5️⃣ What about ‘crypto colonialism’?

🇺🇸 @PeterJHowson and @OJutel say developers are using Pacific governments to further the interests of U.S. platforms.

⭕️ They’re dangling blockchain as a fix for the islands’ problems while advancing "Silicon Valley solutionism."
6️⃣ Has this happened before?

🇪🇪 Estonia launched an e-residency program in 2014. But it has since become mired by crypto scams.

⭕️ @PeterJHowson and @OJutel warn that Palau’s crypto-citizenship scheme could suffer a similar fate.

news.trust.org/item/202202040…
🇵🇼 Palau hasn’t always been so crypto friendly.

⛔️ In 2019, the country banned cryptocurrencies like #Bitcoin, following the growth of scam-token Palau Coin.

But now, it could be changing tact. Is it for better or worse? @PeterJHowson & @OJutel weigh in.
news.trust.org/item/202202040…

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More from @ContextNewsroom

Context News Profile picture
Oct 12, 2022
🌳 Ever heard of the Darién Gap?

🥾 Last year, a record 133,000 people crossed this perilous jungle route without roads, hoping to reach the U.S.

👣 We sent our reporter @AnastasiaBogota to walk with the migrants as they embarked on their journey. Here’s what we found. 🧵
👣 The journey starts in the Colombian beach town of Necoclí.

🛶 Here, they take a boat to the village of Capurganá, where they start the jungle trek.

🥾 Migrants pay about $160 each to be led through the jungle by local smugglers.
bit.ly/3RST1XK
🇵🇦 The migrants hope to reach Panama.

🚐 From there, they would take buses through Central America to Mexico.

🇺🇸 They would then cross the border illegally into the U.S.
bit.ly/3RST1XK
Read 9 tweets
Context News Profile picture
Sep 2, 2022
☕️ It's 9 a.m. on Monday. You're logging on for work.

🏖 But instead of being in the office, you're on the beaches of Barbados.

Eco-conscious "slomads," like digital nomads, work while travelling — but they prefer to spend more time in one place.

Could this life be for you? 🧵
📈 Remote and flexible working has boomed since coronavirus lockdowns lifted globally.

It’s backed by big companies like @AirBnB and @Twitter.

✈️ More countries are now issuing digital nomad visas which allow people to stay and work for up to two years.
tmsnrt.rs/3Q8k2FH
⭕️ Tourist hot-spots have been quick to embrace digital nomads.

🌏 Places like Aruba, Barbados, Cape Verde, Croatia, Estonia, Indonesia, Malta and Norway have created visas which allow people to stay put and work for up to two years.
tmsnrt.rs/3Q8k2FH
Read 7 tweets
Context News Profile picture
Aug 30, 2022
🇱🇰 Since March, Sri Lankans have faced severe shortages - of fuel, medicine and food essentials.

Now, the country is losing yet another resource: its most skilled professionals.

✈️ From engineers to doctors, why are Sri Lankans leaving their own country? 🧵
🇱🇰 Sri Lanka is facing its worst financial crisis in more than seven decades.

The nation has been battered by a combination of factors including COVID-19 and rising oil prices.

Data suggests the number of those leaving the country was big enough to delay any economic recovery.
1️⃣ Power cuts

⚡️Fuel shortages have caused lengthy, daily power cuts that could last for over half a day.

🚍 They have also led to transport issues which disrupted people's routines.
tmsnrt.rs/3x302h9
Read 10 tweets
Context News Profile picture
Aug 26, 2022
🚁 Flying drones for taxis
👻 Holographs for teachers
🌙 Even a man-made moon

Would you sell your data to live in Saudi Arabia's new smart city, #TheLine?

Some are keen but others are concerned. Why? 🧵 A rendering of The Line, a smart city in NEOM, a high-tech bA rendering of The Line, a smart city in NEOM, a high-tech b
🏙️ #TheLine will be the first development in @NEOM, a planned $500 billion city.

The sustainable smart city will feature two skyscrapers stretching in a straight line over 170 kilometers.

📊 It will stack homes and offices vertically, mining the data of its 9 million people. A rendering of The Line, a smart city in NEOM, a high-tech b
💰Saudi Arabia plans to pay @NEOM residents for their data.

📲 This will be collected from their smartphones, homes, facial recognition, and a host of other sensors.

🏠 It will be used to manage power, water, waste, transport, healthcare, and security. A rendering of The Line, a smart city in NEOM, a high-tech b
Read 9 tweets
Context News Profile picture
Aug 24, 2022
🇺🇦 "A new nation appeared in the world on Feb. 24... It was not born, but reborn,” said @ZelenskyyUa in a speech to celebrate Ukraine's 31st independence day.

Today marks six months since the invasion by Russia. Here's how the crisis affected the lives of ordinary Ukrainians. 🧵 Image
🇺🇦 The war triggered Europe's worst refugee crisis since the end of WWII, @UNmigration reported.

🇪🇺 Most refugees have crossed to the EU.

In May, nearly 400 of them found a haven in France under a community project.

twitter.com/i/events/15290…
⭕️ More than 1.5 million children have fled the war in Ukraine by March.

📚 From Ireland to Poland, countries expanded classes and fast-tracked the registration of Ukrainian teachers to ensure children do not lose out on education.

news.trust.org/item/202203271…
Read 8 tweets
Context News Profile picture
Aug 1, 2022
🇲🇽 Many Mexicans can't afford to buy basic food...
🇧🇷 Meat is becoming a luxury in Brazil...
🇻🇪 And some Venezuelans can't even pay to bury their dead.

The cost-of-living crisis is wreaking havoc in countries worldwide.

Here’s how three nations in the Americas are coping. 🧵
🇲🇽 In Mexico, the #UkraineCrisis has pushed the price of corn to a nine-year high.

Vegetable oil prices are also up by 23% over the last year. Inflation is at a 21-year high of nearly 8%.

🌮 Families are cutting back on staples like tacos and empanadas.

tmsnrt.rs/3zhLk62 "The situation is bad. Every week, little by little, th
🍦 Hector Castro has owned a small ice cream stall in Mexico City for 27 years.

But this year, he’s struggling to stay afloat.

Despite working for more than 12 hours a day, Hector said he barely makes enough money to cover food, rent and transport from his home in Atlacomulco. "We are currently living day-to-day, eating nothing but
Read 10 tweets

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