There is an island in the Pacific called Yap that uses circular stones as currency. The stones are too large to move so the ownership of the stones is passed by word of mouth to transact business http://ow.ly/LxJV30mpIqe pic.twitter.com/XhwqSVBkiH
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Yap was formed in a geologically unusual way which resulted in it lacking a stone common elsewhere: limestone. Obtained from islands many hundreds of km away on voyages where about half the men were lost. Limestone was unforgeably costly on Yap, like jade elsewhere.
Unforgeable that is until Eurasian tech was brought in. Among the post-contact inflators was David O'Keefe, who used industrial-revolution-era steel tools to quarry the stones and Chinese ships to transport them safely & en masse to Yap. Still done today for the tourist market.pic.twitter.com/DYCZiIZK1x
![Winson Ng [🔑₿]](https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1023111332420186112/doKuMsAk_normal.jpg)
![Blakk Bull [₿🔑⚡]](https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1039230970447126528/7Xtqe4NZ_normal.jpg)
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In contrast to trust-minimized, censorship-resistant cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, the word-of-mouth "ledger" system was not trust-minimized and easily abused. German colonizers effectively confiscated the post-O'Keefe monster stones by painting German crosses on them.
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I always wondered if the oral history ledger really worked, given how easy it is these days to blow smoke into discussion. (This is perfect timing, my weekend todo list includes watching "His Majesty O'Keefe" with the family.)
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