Fiat has clearly not worked for the people of Puerto Rico. This island belongs to the United States but is far away in the Caribbeans with 3.15 million population and tangled in a web of debt and extreme poverty (45% living below the poverty line).  

It amassed massive debt through some bond scheme interlocked with some sort of Madoff scheme which made the debt get bigger and bigger. That and bad economic policies, fiscal mismanagement, structural issues within the gov't, natural disasters, and Covid-19 contribute to the island's debt crisis.

Puerto Rico became a territory of the US in 1898, and its residents were granted US citizenship in 1917  - well sort of - Puerto Ricans do not have full voting rights in federal elections, and they do not pay federal income tax if they reside in Puerto Rico.

I think to rebuild, there has to be a focus on innovation as a fundamental driver of economic growth. 

But I can’t help but wonder, can the Bitcoin economy and libertarianism work here? If so, how?