Around the Pacific
Is Yap stone money the link to bitcoin ' s origins ?
A
currency system began centuries ago when Yap islanders sailed to Palau to carve what would become the famous stone disks from limestone called “ rai ” or stone money .
In 2019 , Dr . Scott M . Fitzpatrick , an archaeologist , and Stephen McKeon , a finance professor at the University of Oregon , published a paper in Economic Anthropology Online , in which they theorized that bitcoin could have been rooted in Yap ’ s stone money .
Fitzpatrick and McKeon recounted the history of rai based on the islanders ’ oral tradition of telling stories that were sometimes fused with myths and legends .
Yap islanders sailed to Palau 452 kilometers away to quarry limestone from caves and rock shelters in the Rock Islands . Yapese navigators Anguman and Fatha ' an , who were the first to discover limestone in Palau , tasked their men with cutting the stone into fish shape . The form did not turn out well , so they experimented with other shapes .
One night , Anguman looked up into the night sky , gazed at the full moon and decided he liked the moon ’ s circular shape . He ordered the men to carve the stone into a wheel shape . However , they had problems carrying the massive discs , so they carved a hole in the center to make it easier to carry on bamboo poles on the shoulders of men and transport on rafts pulled behind their canoes .
Fatha ' an finished making rai first , so Anguman told him to return the
By Raquel Bagnol
first batch to Yap . Fatha ' an set out , but he was afraid Anguman would use magic to make a typhoon and kill him . Fatha ' an did not go straight to Yap . Instead , he hid in an island called “ Ramith ,” Yapese for " the place of hiding ."
A few days later , a typhoon came . After a week , Anguman set sail on the rough sea from Palau to Yap . This time , Fatha ' an created a typhoon that split Anguman ' s canoes into pieces . Some of the stone money sank , but Anguman was still able to bring some discs of the heavy stone on his rafts back to Yap .
Fatha ' an eventually came out of his hiding place , collected some of the stone money from Anguman ' s broken rafts and added them to his own collection . It was not an easy voyage back to Yap because of the rough and stormy sea .
Yap ' s stone money was the largest portable object in the Pacific ever transported in the open ocean . Upon arrival in Yap , the rai was presented to the chiefs and displayed in prominent locations called “ stone money banks .”
The stone money became famous and valuable in Yap , creating a demand for more . Oral tradition tells how people started competing and sabotaging other voyages to Palau .
Rai was used for different purposes , such as ceremonial gifts in marriage , as a ransom for a corpse , and as currency to buy loincloths and pandanus mats from neighboring islands .
The value of rai depends on several factors such as shape , size , quality , efforts expended and method of transport .
A rai carved by a popular person had a higher value . The value would go up if people died during the carving or transportation process or if the stone was quarried from an area that was extremely difficult to access .
Because rai stones were so big and heavy , ranging from a few inches to 12 feet in diameter and weighing thousands of pounds , they were not typically moved around . A person gifted with a rai would leave it on display in a public place . No one would dispute its ownership even if it changed hands but stayed in the same place . An oral ledger was used to track who owned a rai to maintain security and transparency .
Rai quarrying continued until the mid- to late-1800s . However , things changed when the Europeans got involved . Ship captain David Dean O ' Keefe settled in Yap during the German occupation . He befriended Alfred Tetens , a German captain who had established a trading outpost on the island .
Tetens tried to persuade the Yapese to produce dried coconut meat , or copra , for trading , but the Yapese resisted his efforts . Copra was then a valuable commodity in the East Asian markets . That ' s when O ' Keefe came in . He bargained with the Yapese . He brought in larger ships , metal tools and other incentives to entice Yapese workers to Palau and bring rai back to Yap in exchange for copra .
Originally , the Yapese carved rai using traditional tools such as shells and stone . The Europeans introduced metal and modern carving tools , speeding up the process of making the stone money . Transporting rai from Palau became easier and faster with the larger ships .
Rai quarrying became a profitable venture for the islanders , so it became more common , leading to inflation and eventually , the rai ’ s devaluation .
Shortly after , the Germans began seizing rai stones and marking them with a black cross .
From 1915 to 1945 , the Japanese took control of Yap and imposed their own currency . The Japanese sometimes used rai as ballast , anchors , or for construction work .
Today , several thousands of rai in different sizes are scattered all over Yap and are still used as traditional payment for debts , retribution , marriages and other purposes . The largest rai on Rumung Islands measures 12 feet in diameter with a 20-inch thickness and weighs 4,000 kilograms .
For decades , anthropologists , economists and financial experts studied the stone money , which according to cryptocurrency enthusiasts had the same principles as bitcoin ’ s manufacturing and valuation system .
Satoshi Nakamoto ( a pseudonym ) published a white paper , titled " Bitcoin : A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System ," in 2008 introducing bitcoin . In 2009 , Nakamoto released the software that launched the network and the first cryptocurrency units .
In less than 10 years , bitcoin has emerged as the world ' s most widely recognized and highly valued cryptocurrency , paving the way for numerous similar currencies to emerge .
Raquel Bagnol is a longtime journalist . She worked as a reporter for Marianas Variety on Saipan and Island Times in Palau . Send feedback to gukdako @ yahoo . com
33