Blog: Mazacoin set to become first tribal sovereign currency

Iceland may be the first nation to get its own cryptocurrency, but if Payu Harris has his way, it won’t be the last. This week, he hopes to mine the genesis block for mazacoin, an altcoin for the native American nation in the US.

Specifically designed for the Traditional Lakota Nation, mazacoin is initially being targeted at the Oglala Lakota Nation, which is Harris’ own tribe. He works at Kimitsu Asset Management, which is focused on creating a bitcoin-based native American tribal cryptocurrency.

Harris is launching the altcoin under the Bitcoin Oyate Project, and hopes it will give native American communities some fiscal autonomy.

“One of the favorite tactics used by the Dept of Interior and the local State Government is to threaten to freeze bank accounts if the tribe takes a position that could challenge a State or federal interest,” he alleged.

Harris argued that the tactic has been used several times before against tribes operating casinos. “An independent crypto currency would eliminate the State/Federal ability to freeze accounts and tamper with lawful tax revenues,” he said.