Earth Dollar: watch out for the green bubble
There’s not much green to the dollar except it’s colour. But things are about to change with the launch of the earth dollar, at least according to the creators. The launch is planned for 11 November and I admit part of me is as excited as they are. But when money is concerned, it is best not to take things at face value.
The ideas behind earth dollar certainly tick many of my boxes. But based on the limited information on the website, I don’t seem to be able to get my head around how it works.The earth dollar is an asset backed program. But which assets, and who owns them?
Their website is not helping me so I do a google search. An article I find on a cryptocurrency news site provides an interesting insight:
The indigenous people have pledged 3.2 TRILLION dollars in assets to back (the) currency…”
Hang on. That’s a hell of a lot of ‘real’money.
But I cannot find this information back on the current website, it must have been removed for good reason. The link to the white paper, which is supposed to clear up some of the fog, is not working either. Through a discussion thread on Facebook I ask founder David Kam to provide more information.
He says the white paper is only expected later this week. With the launch of earth dollar less then 1days away, David Kam is an even bigger deadline junky than I am. I would think a white paper is something you write months before launch, it’s not like he’s figuring this out on the go.
My creepy feeling grows.
But he does send me a link to an older version, so I study it carefully. After all, I don’t want to write of the next global revolution in economics lightly.
I find only marginal information on the ‘how to’ and I try to piece it together from shreds. There’s been a pilot with the Anishnabe Nation of the Ottawa River Watershed. As part of the set-up members of the community receive a basic income, in return for which they have pledged the natural capital assets of their territory. The ‘natural capital’ has been deposited in the ‘mother earth trust’ or the ‘one fund.’ The trust is privately owned.
But how will the basic income be financed?
How will the assets generate a return?
How do you transfer natural capital to a private trust fund?
Nor the website or the earlier white paper provides any answers.
By whom is it owned? And where is it registered?
No information.
I find the director of the fund on LinkdIn, he has no experience in managing a trust fund.
Due to a lack of information I’m left guessing. As an investor in the fund, which you become, upon buying the tokens to the earth coin, I would certainly want to know what and who’s assets I’m investing in.
According to the white paper (the old version) the only risk involved is that people might work less and spend more time with family, which is obviously not something the Anishnabe tribe would worry about.
But, what would happen if the value of the earth dollar decreases? Does that decrease the value of the land in actual dollars? Like bitcoin, earth dollar is intended to have a concrete monetary counter value. That value of Bitcoin is essentially determined by demand. It could go up, or it could go down.
“The Earth Dollar is established around Treaties and Agreements with Nations. We believe treaties are the “Supreme Law of the Land”; treaties can supersede all other laws including the constitution of a country, country laws, states laws, and municipal laws.”
What does this mean? Essentially private contracts fall outside the responsibility of the government. So if the sovereign nations loose out….nobody has their back.
In addition Bloch chain makes it technically impossible to interfere with the autonomous proceedings of the currency, even if somebody wanted to. I’m not an expert on blockchain, but it would seem that to have a disproportionate burden of the assets being carried by a particular group, the sovereign nations, goes against block chain logic, which is based on the crowd.
I also take in the small print.
**The Mother Earth Network and the Earth Dollar being sovereign means that no outside governments, nor banks, nor institutions, nor organizations can interfere with the operation of the Earth Dollar and the Mother Earth Network. The sovereignty Earth Dollar and the Mother Earth gives it the supreme, absolute, and uncontrollable power…
Suddenly the smiling face of David Kam saying ‘A vision to save the planet’ takes on a new dimension.
But the earth dollar subscribed to a number of UN declarations for the rights of indigenous people, and the universal declaration of human rights, so that’s covered. Right? Accept that human right offer very little actual protection against a company, or a private foundation, which is an age old story for the native Americans.
So who are these self-declared saviors of the earth?
I look down the list of people involved hoping to find at least a representative of the sovereign nations.
I do find a Thomas Square of the Akwesasne nation among the partners. If he is indeed some sort of representative, he should be on the council of chiefs of the Akwesasne nation. He is not, but I do find him on a photo standing by a slot machine, in an article that implicates Thomas Square with running an illegal casino on Akwesasne territory.
Besides the owner of an illegal gambling operation the list of other people involved is eclectic, and they all carry ‘superhero names’ like old wolfe, equilibra, and the peacemaker.
David Kam
Founder & Chairman
SUPER HERO NAME: THE PANDA
SUPERPOWER: REBIRTH POWER OF THE PHOENIX, VISION, AND PROPHECY
It turns out David Kam has run into the law himself on account of selling securities and seeking investment in a non-authorised entity.
The Canadian financial authorities (AFM) have shut his operation down, and according to them he is not allowed to deal anywhere in the world, since he falls under Canadian jurisdiction. Kam has subsequently attempted to deny his Canadian citizenship. You could dismiss this all as being politicized, but still.
The profiles of the other ‘superheroes’ range from programmers, mental health care professionals to people with actual financial clout, like Terry Molner (Old Wolfe), who has helped create Calvert Foundation and Mesfin Zaid (The peace man), who has 35 years of experience in asset banked lending or Roy Schwartz (no nick name) with 35 years of experience in the renewable energy and financial services industries. These are not a bunch of hippies, these are people with power, networks and reputation, which worries me.
It would seem that the intention behind earth dollar is heart felt by at least some of its supporters if not all. But considering the level of scandal surrounding the founder and the level of uncertainty around the workings of the ‘mother earth trust’, it is my expectation that earth dollar will be shut down before David Kam can say ‘I will change the world.’
Then what will happen with the ‘treaties and agreements’ with the sovereign nations, at least those with the Akwesasne nation and possibly others? If my suspicions are correct they are at serious risk of losing whatever assets they have in the ‘mother earth fund’, let alone earn a basic income.
In addition earth dollar can potentially wreck whatever trust exists for implementing a system transformation like this. Because legislation will be as tight as a rubber glove after this and public trust will have to be built from -1.
If we do something big like this we only get one shot at it and in my opinion we should not put our eggs in the basket of David Kam. Because this green currency could well be a green bubble that’s about to explode in our face, despite all it’s good intentions.
I’m not telling anyone what to think, I’m just saying what I think and I hope my thoughts will trigger some critical debate among those who have their assets and reputations in the game.
