On Tuesday, March 4, 2025, the Williamson Country Republican Party held its convention at the Franklin Marriott, located in the heart of Williamson County, Tennessee.

At the event, “bona fide” Republicans (those who voted in the last three out of four Republican primaries) voted for the future of their party’s local leadership, with the two sides in the contest — Elevate and the Williamson County Republicans — each offering a slate of eight candidates.

The final results of the vote were committed in (added to) Bitcoin block 886,370 using Simple Proof’s Immutable Proof service, an automated service that employs the OpenTimestamps protocol to help protect public records.

Why Simple Proof?

Simple Proof preserves the integrity of documents by committing digital versions of said documents in the arbitrary data field (the OP_RETURN function) of a bitcoin transaction. In doing so, the documents are irrevocably committed to a block on the Bitcoin blockchain, which is immutable.

This technology has proven to be excellent for preserving election records, as it helps to prevent tampering with election results once a vote count is finalized.

Simple Proof put itself on the map when it helped secure the vote tallies for 2023’s Presidential election in Guatemala, the story of which is outlined in the short documentary “Immutable Democracy.”

The company also helped to preserve the integrity of election results in Screven County, Georgia this past November.

It was actually this story from Screven County that caught the attention of Steve Giraud, a Republican voter based in Williamson County who wanted to see integrity of the vote tally for the Williamson County Republican leadership election upheld.

So, he and a friend with whom he hosts Bitcoin meetups, Dave Birnbaum (also a contributor to Bitcoin Magazine), reached out to the Simple Proof to employ its services.

“Steve, the person who contacted Simple Proof, described himself as a ‘concerned citizen,’” Simple Proof founder and CEO Rafael (Rafa) Cordon told Bitcoin Magazine.

Cordon went on to explain that Simple Proof is politically impartial and that it does no more than provide a technological service.

“We’re not working directly for any political organization or electoral authority, just a person who wants to protect voting documents,” said Cordon.

Carlos Toriello, Election Lead at Simple Proof, reiterated Cordon’s point that Simple Proof doesn’t work on behalf of political groups and only works to preserve the integrity of key election documents.

“They can use our service to know that the information that they rely upon has been preserved,” Toriello told Bitcoin Magazine.

Pre-Convention Tension

When I spoke with Giraud the day before the vote, he seemed visibly nervous about potential interference during the night of the vote and/or legal action being taken to challenge the legitimacy of the election results after the fact.

Giraud, who is affiliated with the Williamson County Citizens, a group of “grassroots conservatives” that believes in small government, low taxes and reduced regulation, explained that the Republican sect to which he belongs has been deeply at odds with the Williamson County Conservatives, who he described as less ideologically-driven “establishment Republicans.”

At the convention, bona fide Republicans would vote for a total of eight party leaders, selected from the eight put on the ballot by Elevate, the Republican group with which Giraud is affiliated, and eight put on the ballot by the Williamson County Conservatives.

In the weeks leading up to the convention, reports stated that the Williamson County Republicans ran a misinformation campaign in which they claimed that Elevate was trying to suppress the vote because the Williamson County Republican Party (WCRP), made up of a majority of representatives from Elevate, mandated in-person voting at the convention, despite the fact that this mandate comes from Tennessee’s Republican party bylaws.

According to Giraud, the Williamson County Conservatives also claimed that the WCRP changed the venue last minute as a means to reduce voter turnout from supporters of Williamson County Conservatives.

Giraud argued that this wasn’t the case, though.

“Given the turnout we were expecting, we were getting very close to exceeding the maximum capacity or occupancy rate for the original venue, the Franklin Factory Liberty Hall,” he explained.

“So, someone at the Contest and Credentialing Committee (CCC) (which is a separate entity from the WCRP) said he had to change venue, which could disadvantage some voters. Now, the WCRP will have volunteers at the Factory with signs that say ‘Venue changed, go to the Marriott,’” he added.

“But we’re very concerned that if the opposition loses, they will threaten lawsuits because of what the CCC did.”

What is more, the Williamson County Conservatives bombarded Williamson county residents with mailers, texts and robo-calls, partially funded by former Democrats.

Giraud said that the Williamson County Conservatives “carpet bombed 16,000 bona fide Republicans in Williamson County with mailers — every 5,000 of which went out costing about $4,000.”

A report claimed that the Williamson County Conservatives spent $50,000 on this campaign and that the messaging was “emotionally-charged and aggressive,” leading to Williamson County Conservatives and Elevate both levying and responding to accusations made by the opposing group.

The Vote Counting Process

Simple Proof doesn’t guarantee the validity of the vote tallies it helps to preserve with the Bitcoin blockchain, so it’s up to the local election board to ensure the legitimacy of the voting process.

Giraud explained that only bona fide voters would be allowed into the voting area the night of the convention. He added that the voting area would be “secured by deputy sheriffs” and that all voters are given a wristband that they have to remove once they vote so that they cannot vote twice.

All voting is done on what Giraud called “bubble cards,” on which voters use a Sharpie pen to fill in their choice eight candidates from the 16 on the ballot (the Elevate candidates on one side of the ballot and the Williamson Country Conservatives candidates on the other).

Four volunteer observers — two from Elevate and two from the Williamson County Conservatives — monitor the vote.

During the vote, Giraud would act as a “Judge for Spoiled Ballots,” allowing him to take note of any ballots on which someone wrote outside of the bubbles or other irregularities that could nullify a vote.

Ballots are fed through a machine (a part of the voting process that Giraud noted that he doesn’t necessarily like — “I’m skeptical of anything that involves a machine when it comes to a ballot marking device,” he said.)

The machines then produce the final vote tally for the night, though, the results could be hand counted at the request of either Elevate or the Williamson County Conservatives.

The Voting Results

The Elevate candidates won all eight party leadership seats.

The victory did not go uncontested, though.

After the machines produced the results, the Williamson Country Conservatives requested a manual recount, which the Tennessee State Election Commission conducted, according to Giraud. The recount resulted in Elevate winning by a very slightly wider margin than was initially reported. (Simple Proof timestamped both the initial results and the results from the manual recount, linked in the first section of this piece, to the Bitcoin blockchain.)

“With the manual hand recount, we gained one vote,” said Giraud.

Giraud also reported that his anxieties around potential voting interference the night of the convention were allayed, as the process went smoothly, aside from a minor, unexpected occurrence.

“There were so many elderly people here that they opened the doors up for early voting,” he said.

By the end of the night, Giraud wasn’t just relieved, though, he was optimistic about what had transpired that evening and also hopeful that Simple Proof’s technology will be employed on a larger scale.

“I just introduced what I did to the soon-to-be-former Chair of the Williamson County Republican Committee, who is stepping down as of tonight,” said Giraud.

“He was very excited that we were doing this. I hope that he will help us take this further, not just in the county, but in outlying counties as well as up to the state at some point. That’s my goal for the state of Tennessee: increase transparency,” he added.

“I would hope even the other side would approach Carlos (Toriello) and Rafa (Cordon) and want to use this for documentation as well as future elections to hold us accountable and to force truth and accountability. That’s my goal as a concerned citizen.”

South Africa Reserve Bank(SARB) governor’s question, “Why not strategic beef reserve?” at the 2025 World Economic Forum in Davos may have been rhetorical, but Lesetja Kganyago’s seemingly sarcastic remark about “strategic bitcoin reserves” inadvertently underscored the need for Africa to rethink its economic strategies in the face of global financial shifts. In a world increasingly defined by digital transformation, the concept of money and value storage is evolving rapidly. Africa is no stranger to commodity-based economies. From oil to gold, beef to cocoa, the continent has long relied on natural resources for economic sustenance. However, these commodities are fraught with challenges. Global commodity prices are highly susceptible to market fluctuations, geopolitical tensions, and climate change. For instance, the price of beef can swing dramatically due to disease outbreaks or trade restrictions, just the way the value of fiat currencies swings and remains unpredictable when traded against digital assets like bitcoin due to regional financial policies and currency devaluation. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), beef prices have experienced volatility of up to 30% year-over-year due to factors like foot-and-mouth disease and export bans.

Image Source : FAO 

Even though Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, responded to Kganyago’s question with a compelling argument: Bitcoin is not just a better form of money than gold, it is also more portable, divisible, and utility-driven. Over the past decade, Bitcoin has outperformed every major asset class, cementing its position as a superior store of value. For Africa, a continent often marginalized in the global financial system, a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve could be the key to unlocking economic independence, fostering innovation, and securing long-term prosperity. How?

It’s time to be factual and realistic in our comparison. Bitcoin exists digitally and requires no physical storage, commodities like beef and mutton are perishable and costly to maintain. The World Bank estimates that post-harvest losses for agricultural products in Africa amount to $48 billion annually, highlighting the inefficiencies of commodity-based reserves. While commodities have intrinsic value, their utility is restricted to specific industries. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is a global, borderless asset with applications in finance, technology, and beyond while its unique properties make it an ideal candidate for a strategic reserve asset. With a capped supply of 21 million coins, Bitcoin is inherently deflationary, unlike fiat currencies that can be printed indefinitely or beef with endless reproductive mechanisms. According to CoinMarketCap, Bitcoin’s market capitalization has grown from less than 1 billion in 2013 to over 1 trillion in 2025, demonstrating its rapid adoption and value appreciation.

Image Source : CoinMarketCap

WHY BITCOIN OVER BEEF ?

Bitcoin can be transferred across borders in minutes and divided into smaller units (satoshis), making it more practical than gold or beef. Over the past decade, Bitcoin has delivered an average annual return of over 200%, outperforming gold, stocks, and real estate. A study by Fidelity Investments found that Bitcoin’s risk-adjusted returns are superior to traditional assets, making it an attractive option for long-term wealth preservation. Globally, nations are beginning to recognize Bitcoin’s potential as a reserve asset. El Salvador made history in 2021 by adopting Bitcoin as legal tender, while countries like Switzerland and Singapore have integrated Bitcoin into their financial systems. This is 2025 and The United States “Strategic Bitcoin Reserve” Bill is already in the pipeline. According to a 2023 report by Chainalysis, Africa is one of the fastest-growing cryptocurrency markets, with Nigeria, Kenya and South Africa leading in adoption.

Bitcoin’s deflationary nature makes it an effective hedge against inflation, which has plagued many African economies. For example, Nigeria’s inflation rate hit 34.80% in 2024, eroding the value of the Naira. A Bitcoin reserve could protect national wealth from such devaluation. By allocating just 1% of its reserves to Bitcoin, Africa could unlock billions in value. For instance, if the continent’s combined foreign reserves of 500 billion included 5 billion in Bitcoin, a 10x appreciation in Bitcoin’s value would yield $50 billion in returns. Unlike beef production, which contributes to deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions, Bitcoin mining can be powered by renewable energy. According to the Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index, 58.5% of global Bitcoin mining is powered by renewable energy as of 2021. Africa’s vast solar and hydroelectric potential makes it an ideal location for sustainable Bitcoin mining operations. Storing and managing Bitcoin reserves is far more cost-effective than maintaining commodity reserves. There are no storage costs, no risk of spoilage, and no need for complex logistics.

Image Source : Central Bank of Nigeria.

El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender provides valuable insights for Africa. Despite initial skepticism, Bitcoin has boosted tourism and foreign investment in El Salvador. According to the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador, tourism revenue increased by 30% in the first year following Bitcoin adoption. Over 70% of Salvadorans previously lacked access to banking services. Bitcoin has enabled millions to participate in the global economy. By reducing reliance on the U.S. dollar, El Salvador has taken a bold step toward financial independence. Many African nations rely heavily on the U.S. dollar for trade and reserves, leaving them vulnerable to external economic policies. Bitcoin offers a decentralized alternative, reducing reliance on traditional financial systems. 

By establishing a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, Africa can secure its economic future, protect its wealth from inflation, and position itself as a global leader in the digital economy. The time has come for Africa to move beyond outdated economic models and embrace the future of money. As Brian Armstrong aptly stated, Bitcoin is not just a better form of money; it is the foundation of a new financial paradigm. For Africa, the choice is clear: Bitcoin, not beef, is the path to prosperity. Bitcoin represents a transformative asset class that offers unparalleled advantages over traditional commodities like beef or mutton.

This is a guest post by Heritage Falodun. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.