Researchers turn to stones to find the ancient origin of Bitcoin (2021) \ stacker news ~bitcoin

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This is more of a fun read! I'm from the Pacific which holds so many mysterious. I thought this would be a cute read, as the ledger system was used in Rai Stones WAYYY back when.

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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bell_curve 18 Jul 2024

I remember reading about this in a chapter on Monetary History by Milton Friedman

13 sats \ 0 replies \ @Hamstr OP 18 Jul 2024

well, if we really want to go down the history rabbit hole.. We would need to go back to Pohnpei in Micronesia- Nan Madol. The records(based on carbon) go back 12/15th century. Have fun looking at that, and it first started in the 8/9th century.

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @Bell_curve 18 Jul 2024

Solomon Islands used to be a German colony?

13 sats \ 2 replies \ @Hamstr OP 18 Jul 2024

No, to your question.

Similarly, for centuries Yapese islanders in what is now known as Micronesia.

They're “Micronesian” people, there's quite a bit of them that live on my island. Not to be confused with Yap, as they prefer the term "Yapese," same general region but different people and language/dialect. This portion of the article is wrong, these universities folk don't know anything about the people there, they live in Oregon, and visited the island for x amount of time gives them no creditably of the people.

All we can really gather is the rai stone to this day was one of the most mysterious form of currency back in the BC era. In essence, we can say limestone was money that you "rolled" around and when you paid for goods, the next person would scribe their name and take it. Hence, the ledger part. It's kinda caveman like, but that was one form back in the day for islanders. As there wasn't such a thing as gold lying around like in California.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bell_curve 18 Jul 2024

Rai stones are a unique form of traditional stone currency used on the island of Yap in Micronesia. Here are the key points about rai stones:

Description: Rai stones are large, circular discs carved from limestone, with a hole in the center. They range in size from small 3.5 cm discs to massive stones up to 3.6 meters in diameter and weighing up to 4,000 kg[2].
Origin: The stones were quarried on the island of Palau, about 400 km away from Yap, and transported back by canoe. This difficult and dangerous process contributed to their value[1][3].
Value system: The value of a rai stone was determined not just by its size, but also by its shape, quality, and the difficulty of acquisition. Stones that cost lives to transport were considered more valuable[3].
Ownership and transactions: Rai stones were rarely moved due to their size. Instead, ownership was tracked through oral history and community knowledge. When a stone changed hands, everyone in the community would be informed of the new owner[1][3].
Historical development: The use of iron tools and European ships in the 19th century led to the creation of larger stones. David Dean O'Keefe, an Irish-American trader, significantly increased stone money production by transporting them on his ship[2][3].
Modern usage: While the US dollar is now the common currency in Yap, rai stones are still used for major traditional transactions like dowry payments or land purchases[3].
Economic interpretation: Some economists, like Milton Friedman, have drawn parallels between the rai stone system and modern monetary systems, noting similarities in how value is assigned and transactions are recorded[2].
Cultural significance: Rai stones remain an important part of Yapese culture and are a national symbol, appearing on license plates and used in cultural celebrations[3][4].

The rai stone system demonstrates how value can be assigned to objects through shared belief and record-keeping, even when the objects themselves are impractical to move or exchange physically.

Citations: [1] https://www.financemagnates.com/thought-leadership/the-rai-se-and-fall-of-the-first-distributed-ledger-yap-stones/ [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rai_stones [3] https://mantaray.com/discover-yap/the-history-of-stone-money/ [4] https://blog.hmns.org/2015/05/hard-currency-stone-money-of-the-yap-islands/

13 sats \ 0 replies \ @Hamstr OP 18 Jul 2024

There are so many islands in the Pacific. Money in ancient times I suspect were these stones in Micronesia, now they use USD. But they were connected, even though the ocean separated the islands.

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Notable countries you might have heard of : Tonga, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Palau and Solomon Islands.