Pro-bitcoin politician Maya Parbhoe vanishes from X after ‘SOS’ posts

Maya Parbhoe, a presidential candidate in Suriname popular with the Bitcoin community, has seemingly disappeared from X after posted a worrying plea for help.

Concern for Parbhoe’s safety spread across the internet on Thursday after she tweeted, “Help.”

With no other context, she later initiated a livestream titled “Life and family under threat. SOS.”

That event contained no further information and contained only a music recording and an unsuccessful attempt to speak on the broadcast.

Parbhoe had also posted that “The US Secret Services is here in Suriname to protect me and to help me uncover corruption.”

However, she or someone controlling her X account soon deleted that post, raising even more red flags.

The Daedalus Labs founder, who received bitcoin (BTC) donations for her ostensibly anti-corruption campaign, found immediate allies in prominent Bitcoiners. Cory Klippsten amplified her call for help, which in turn earned a response from pro-Bitcoin venture capitalist Daniel Batten.

Batten claimed that he was able to get through to Parbhoe and verify that she was safe as of 9pm on April 2. However, she has not posted to X or Nostr since.

Protos also reached out to Parbhoe and several of her colleagues at Daedalus Labs but did not receive a reply prior to publication time.

“100% this smells,” stated an unconvinced Ben Wehrman. Others echoed that skepticism.

After a full day of social media silence, someone reiterated concern, “It’s been 24 hours, and still no signs from her or her team. Please.”

Geyser, a crowdfunding platform that has an active fundraiser for Parbhoe, has scheduled an X Space for 1pm New York time to discuss her situation.

Suriname’s May 25 presidential election

The next presidential and general election for 51 seats in the National Assembly in Suriname is scheduled for May 25, 2025.

Parbhoe has campaigned on an anti-corruption platform. Her campaign website is still live.

Suriname is a developing country with a population of approximately 650,000, excluding diaspora. GDP per capita has been declining for a decade and is less than $7,000 annually per person. Suriname’s neighbor, Guyana, is a new petrostate with a rapidly growing economy that is already triple the GDP per capita of Suriname.

Jealous of Guyana, Suriname is trying to convince offshore oil companies like Exxon to sign billion-dollar oil deals.

Many BTC mining companies are interested in Suriname’s oil production as a potential source of cheap electricity. Ex-Blockstream JAN3 founder Samson Mow, for example, has discussed BTC mining with Suriname’s current president, Chan Santokhi.

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