Vitalik Buterin has often extolled the virtues of cryptocurrencies and their ability to cope with the current financial system. For the founder of Ethereum, crypto is a much better way to transfer money than traditional channels and it is not Africa that will contradict him.
Crypto payments: an underrated but more efficient sector?
Vitalik Buterin has been very supportive of cryptocurrencies when it comes to facilitating money transfers. In particular, he believes that payments in cryptocurrencies are more convenient than the solutions offered by the traditional financial system.
“People continue to underestimate how often crypto payments are superior, not because of resistance to censorship but because they are much more convenient.”
Thus, according to him, cryptocurrencies provide “a big boost for international trade, charities and sometimes even payments within countries.”
This stance by Ethereum’s founder has raised several rather positive reactions.
Fereshteh Forough, founder of Code To Inspire, a programming school for girls in Afghanistan agrees with the message, stating that cryptocurrencies have allowed her association to diversify the nature of donations, support partner associations and fund 100 families of female students in partnership with Binance Charity.
“By using cryptocurrency, Code To Inspire was able to diversify our donations, but also send emergency funds to AFG. Additionally, through our 3-month partnership with Binance Charity, we were able to provide financial assistance to 100 of our students’ families in a very secure way.”
Fereshteh Forough, founder of Code To Inspire.
The crypto experience in Africa proves Vitalik Buterin right
In recent years, more and more Africans are turning to cryptocurrencies. They are generally used as an alternative way to transfer money and as a way to circumvent inflation.
In Nigeria, for example, the volume of peer-to-peer (P2P) crypto exchanges has exploded. It exceeds $400 million annually.
Despite the strong crackdown on cryptocurrency users, Nigerian youth have not turned away from cryptocurrencies. Indeed, with expensive, slow and inaccessible financial services, a currency that is constantly losing value, people usually have no choice but to resort to cryptocurrencies. They allow for faster, cheaper and incensurable transactions.
In addition, solutions such as Machankura make it easy to send bitcoin via SMS. While inflation is at its highest, such innovation could allow easier access to bitcoin. That’s why it’s only natural to see more and more young Africans embracing the crypto revolution.
The usefulness of cryptocurrencies beyond money transfer
Beyond financial inclusion, cryptocurrencies play a big role in other sectors away from finance. More and more people are using them to support charitable or activist actions.
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, initiatives such as Kiveclair, led by Gloire and I, have raised funds in bitcoin to assist victims of the Nyiragongo volcano eruption.
The Virunga National Park, a UNESCO heritage site, has also used cryptocurrencies to fund its ecosystem conservation activities.
Bitcoin mining, meanwhile, is making power generation units in remote areas of Africa profitable, bringing electricity to local populations. However, despite their multiple benefits, payments remain the biggest innovation brought by the crypto ecosystem.
Following the example of financial giant Mastercard, which decided to join forces with exchange Binance to facilitate crypto transactions in Argentina, more and more institutions are becoming aware of the power of cryptocurrency as a money transfer tool. Compared to other means of transferring funds, cryptocurrencies have the potential to give old finance a run for its money. It remains to be seen whether it will put in place favorable or unfavorable regulation.
I dream of a world where every citizen has total control over themselves, including their finances. I believe that Bitcoin is one of the tools that will achieve this revolution. Since 2019, I am learning about this cryptocurrency and spreading the word around.
