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Mexico’s newly-elected President Andrés Manuel López Obrador just announced a $30 billion aid package for the people of Central America. The enormous funding program is already being compared to America’s post-WWII Marshall Plan – and crypto could play a role in the rollout.
“We’re putting together a proposal to invest in productive projects and job creation,” said President Obrador, as reported by USA Today.
Some are already comparing it to America’s successful “Marshall Plan”, when the United States invested billions of dollars into rebuilding Europe’s economy from the ashes of World War II. Obrador however, has provided few details about how the package would work.
The Marshall Plan worked for the United States because a healthy, powerful Europe helped serve American interests.
Similarly, President Obrador sees similar benefits from investing in Central America. Investing in Central American countries could stem the flow of migrants moving into Mexico from the south. Migration has been a huge issue on the campaign trail throughout the past year. By fixing its own backyard, Mexico could solve many problems within its own borders – at least, that’s the idea.
Crypto Could Revolutionize Aid Distribution
Politics aside, how is crypto involved with any of this?
As explained by TrustNodes, it’s possible that Mexico could use crypto or blockchain technology to maximize the rollout of the Mexican Marshall Plan. Cryptocurrencies could help distribute aid more efficiently than conventional remittance solutions, for example. Cryptocurrencies could allow wealth to get into the hands of the average Central American person – not centralized banks, governments, and other institutions.
“For Central America, while cryptos might not have a primary role, they can have an important role in one sector of their economy that accounts for 20% or more of their GDP: remittance.”
One of the most popular benefits of crypto is the ability to securely send money worldwide without depending on conventional remittance solutions. You can send $1 million in bitcoin from Mexico to Guatemala, for example, at the cost of a few pennies. You can also send $10 million or $10 billion of bitcoin for the same nominal fee.
At this point, the system proposed by TrustNodes is a complete pipe dream. President Obrador has announced nothing about how his funding plan will work, nor has he explained how or when it will roll out.
Still, it seems possible that crypto could play a role. Instead of forcing governments and individuals in Central America to pay hefty fees for receiving aid payments, cryptocurrencies could allow these institutions to enjoy cheap, seamless money transfers. That means more money top spend on valuable infrastructure and job creation – and less money lost to middlemen.
We’ve seen a similar system work just a little further down south in Venezuela, which is home to a surprisingly high percentage of crypto users. With fiat currency prices collapsing and inflation skyrocketing, many Venezuelans depend on cryptocurrencies as a relatively stable store of value and medium of transfer.
Could Mexico’s “Marshall Plan” use cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology to distribute aid across Central America? It’s possible. At this point, however, it’s far too early to predict how Mexico will roll out its proposed $30 billion aid package.
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