And I can see why "In one instance, a large rai being transported by canoe and outrigger was accidentally dropped and sank to the sea floor. Although it was never seen again, everyone agreed that the rai must still be there, so it continued to be transacted as genuine currency".

Interestingly this is the reason why the first Raiblocks wallet was named canoe. [1]

[1] https://getcanoe.io/

This sounds like the beginning of a Borges story.