Puerto Rico becomes a new economy that supports the crypto industry and invests in its development. The Department of Economic Development and Trade (DDEC) has released a Blockchain Advisory Council, according to El Nuevo Dia.

The project aims to invest in startup companies that work based on the blockchain network. The idea of this project was made public on March 15th by Manuel Laboy, the secretary of the DDEC during the Blockchain Unbound event.

The council include members both from private and public environment. The government’s Chief Innovation Officer (CIO) Luis Arocho, the representative of the Commissioner Financial Institution George Joyner and Laboy Riviera are a few of the Blockchain Advisory Council.

Blockchain Advisory Council as a “filter”

According to El Nuevo Dia, the new project will also act as a “filter“, thus, identifying the platforms that create an appropriate environment for island development through the blockchain technology and those that lead to social, economic and political problems.

“[Blockchain] is becoming a ‘catchphrase’ in the same way that many companies were previously mentioning “cloud” solutions. The government is very careful about which projects to support.”, wrote El Nuevo Dia.

Puerto Rico provides tax incentives

Laboy Rivera has announced that with the help of the Blockchain Advisory Council, the government will create and introduce a possible regulation that will favor companies based on blockchain. We have to mention that the Puerto Rico Island provides the same business security standards as those offered by the US federal government, being a US commonwealth.

Many of the companies present in Puerto Rico have settled in there following the hurricane Maria that took place in 2017, which virtually destroyed the infrastructure across the island. They were motivated by tax incentives offered by the government of the island, in order to bring the state back on the previous charts.

Talking to CNBC, Rivera stated that:

“Before the natural disaster, the hurricane, we were already targeting Puerto Rico to become a world leader — not only a regional leader, but a world leader — in export services and technology. That was part of the vision that Gov. (Ricardo) Rossello has for Puerto Rico.”

In terms of crypto firms, the first entrepreneurs to move in Puerto Rico was the Tether’s founder Brock Pierce, which has attracted other business partners and investors in order to develop what today is called “crypto utopia”.