Cryptocurrencies are changing the way we build wealth: Proponents of a new blockchain technology say cryptocurrency will usher in a new age of personal freedom.

• Author: Penrod, Emma

WHILE THE REST OF THE WORLD was glued to their televisions and browser refresh buttons this past November, Trent Larson was largely indifferent. A member of the Libertarian party and a cryptocurrency enthusiast, he knew his preferred presidential candidate had no real chance at winning the election.

"It always goes to the money," he said as the race unfolded.

Utah, long recognized as a bastion of Libertarianism, was one of just eight states where 2020 candidate Jo Jorgensen won more than two percent of the vote. Those same political leanings, coupled with the state's technical background and rising business prowess, have helped make Utah a hotbed for a new system some believe will bring about economic reform and revitalizafion.

Ravencoin is an emerging cryptocurrency that is decentralized and hosted on multiple servers around the world. One of its developers, Tron Black, calls Utah home, and the spirit of the state, he says is well-aligned with his latest project.

Like Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Ravencoin relies on distributed computer networks to track and automate transactions between network users. But while Bitcoin is designed to facilitate the storage and exchange of value in the same fashion as money, Ravencoin is designed specifically fo track the ownership of real-world assets.

Black and other proponents of the project imagine that Ravencoin will help to create a more economically just world--one where all individuals are free to transact on an equal footing beyond the reach of government machinations. Others believe the revolutionary power of cryptocurrency in general, and Ravencoin in particular, is probably overstated.

Either way, it still has the potential to change the way many industries operate, right down to businesses with which we interact on a daily basis.

HOW CRYPTOCURRENCIES CAN INCREASE NATIONAL FREEDOMS

Ravencoin started as an idea presented at cryptocurrency conventions: what if developers took something like Bitcoin, tracked on a similar ledger, but modified so that the coins or "tokens" represented real-world assets? That would make it possible to trade things like certificates of authenticity for art, fractions of a building, or even stocks.

"I was in the right place at the right time," Black says, "and I got to help with the project."

Black's interest in cryptocurrency began in 2013. At the time, he says, he found himself following developments in the Cyprus banking crisis, which got him thinking about the nature of money and what gives it value.

Somewhere along the way, while following the news from Cyprus, Black encountered someone holding up Bitcoin as a solution, and with his background in computer science and business, his interest piqued. That year he signed up to attend what was then the largest cryptocurrency conference in San Jose.

During the conference, Black...