- He insists Sri Lanka can replicate the success of El Salvador and Estonia, which have used the latest technologies to transform their nations.
- Draper came to SL to engage with key stakeholders in government, including President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the local startup ecosystem.
By Nichel Fernando
Billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper is proposing Sri Lanka adopt bitcoin as its currency, while enabling the adoption of cross-industry artificial intelligence (AI) via 5G to position the country as a haven for global entrepreneurs.
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Tim Draper |
“My advice to Sri Lanka is that you have been pushed into a corner by the press, you need to repaint yourself as a place of entrepreneurs and technology. My best suggestion to the president was to think in terms of attracting entrepreneurs to the country. How do you attract entrepreneurs to the country? This is by encouraging them to come and make their lives really interesting and exciting while they are here. If there was 5G everywhere, if there was bitcoin as a currency, if you had a degree in artificial intelligence, the government is starting to say that we will start using artificial intelligence everywhere we go and change our country, which is digitized and digitized. , is honest.
Amazing things can happen,” he said. He said this while participating in a panel discussion titled ‘From Troubled Nation to Startup Nation’ organized by Hatch, an award-winning Sri Lankan co-working space, start-up incubator and accelerator, in Colombo on Tuesday. Hatch has entered into a strategic partnership with Draper Startup House, a global network of spaces connecting resources for entrepreneurs.
As part of the partnership, Draper came to Sri Lanka to engage with key government stakeholders, including President Ranil Wickremesinghe and the local startup ecosystem. Draper insisted that Sri Lanka can replicate the success of El Salvador and Estonia, which are using the latest technologies to transform their nations.
“It will change every industry in the world. Why don’t you go ahead and say that we are a country for AI; we are a country that will make it easy for everyone.
Then you will attract everyone. El Salvador was not a very interesting country for anyone. Then they adopted bitcoin as a national currency. Then people started flooding there. Estonia was not very interesting either. Then virtual residency program, digital identity, digital voting, digital parking, etc. they created If you are known for something in the world and hang this banner, everyone will come to your country,” he elaborated. In particular, he emphasized that it makes sense for a country like Sri Lanka, which has seen its fiat currency lose 80 percent in value in six months, to adopt decentralized bitcoin as its official currency.
“Soon you will be saying why am I working in my own government fiat currency? Why do I want a rupee here? It has decreased by 80 percent in six months. Why do I want this? Of course, bitcoin took a big hit, but it’s not that bad. They will say that I prefer a currency that will increase in value over time, rather than a currency that is guaranteed to lose value next year.” He said decentralized virtual currencies like bitcoin have the potential to prevent a future economic crisis caused by excessive money printing and reckless financial spending. “In most countries, there is usually someone who prints too much money, mismanages the economy, spends money recklessly, or creates terrible inflation. If you have a decentralized currency, you don’t understand this, because if you push it down somewhere, it opens up somewhere else. It’s global, it’s transparent, it keeps perfect records, it’s a faster way to send money and everything is better. I believe that the next revolution, bitcoin and then artificial intelligence, has greater potential than the internet has ever had.” In addition, he noted that by replacing fiat currency with bitcoin, the government could increase tax collections while reducing corruption and unnecessary spending.
“Bitcoin has opened up a number of interesting markets. Blockchain keeps perfect records. Only a few governments have recognized this, but as soon as the government recognizes this, they will receive their taxes without auditors, accountants, bookkeepers, transfer agents or anything else. It keeps perfect records, so it avoids corruption. It’s just a blockchain. Then there are smart contracts. If you’re doing a legal transaction with a smart contract, then you don’t need a lawyer. We’re making a deal and it’s in the software, that’s the deal,” he added.