In 1962 E.M. Rogers introduced the world to the Diffusion of Innovation Theory[1], a framework to understand the adoption of an idea or product. It comes in five stages and it applies, generally speaking, to all disruptive technologies. While the Internet has spawned numerous disruptive innovations, the world has probably never seen anything like Cryptocurrency. A decentralized, uncounterfeitable resource would, on the surface, seem to be the Holy Grail that governments would embrace for obvious reasons. And yet, it wasn’t governments who invented the concept of national cryptocurrencies, but private citizens.
The first was introduced to the world March 2014 by a mysterious person named “Baldur Friggiar Odinsson” and was greeted with much-deserved skepticism. Ultimately Auroracoin fizzled and has become little more than a footnote in the history of the crypto movement. The Icelandic government never acknowledged it, much less supported it, and the cryptosphere largely ignored it as well. It currently sits at .93 USD with a total supply of just under 9 million units in circulation. Baldur, like Satoshi Nakamoto, has never stepped out of the shadows.
Hot on Baldur’s heels we saw another Fast Follower introduce a national crypto, Payu Harris. His creation Mazacoin, was ostensibly designed to benefit the Oglala Sioux Nation in Pine Falls, South Dakota. In theory, this would have been a boon to a population that could benefit greatly from the influx of investor cash but unfortunately, it also fizzled due to a combination of factors, including obscurity, lack of accountability, and an overabundance of supply. It currently sits at .0008 USD with a supply of over 1 billion coins in existence.
Then we saw Isracoin, which was supposed to benefit the people of Israel, through a detailed, highly-organized distribution system that was
