Cryptocurrency as one of the most talked about subject matters today has overtime attracted perspectives from people, perspectives that have dangled between it being a scam or another Ponzi scheme and also how it is being forecasted as a tool to shape the future of money and on a larger scale, cause a disruption and a revolution in the world of finance.
A look away from the confusion around what the word truly means, cryptocurrencies are simply digital currencies that are secured by cryptography and are built on block chain technology. Because they are built on cryptography, it is immutable and is far more secure than relying on people.
The underlining difference between cryptocurrency and fiat money is that a cryptocurrency is not regulated by government and doesn’t need middlemen. It affords independence and transactions rely only on the internet; they are not geographically bound.
According to Google Trends, Lagos, Nigeria has the world’s highest volume of online searches for bitcoin.
According to Hootsuite’s 2019 Global Digital Yearbook, 10.7% of South Africans process crypto, Nigeria at 7.8% and Ghana at 7.3%.
Because of the unpredictable volatility of fiat money, most Africans are seeking to protect their funds.
Admist the rubbles about crypto, there are green lights to show that Africa is moving towards being a fertile ground for the growth of cryptocurrency. This can be seen in how Mobile banking activities have been embraced and also in how African countries are arising to investigate into crypto to see its national viability.
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Enough said about the term….What exactly is the vantage points?
Financial Inclusion
Every individual and business is yearning to have access to useful and affordable financial products and services that meet their needs in a responsible and sustainable way. Crypto poses as an integral force to drive financial inclusion between unbanked citizens and help to increase consumer choices as regards their finance.
The use of E-commerce & Mobile financial services
With crypto gaining grounds in Africa, the culture of E-commerce in Africa would skyrocket and gain more mentions. Placing orders and paying online would be much easier. This would also cause much more convergence of marketers online as the traditional mode of marketing would soon go extinct.
This also goes to boost mobile financial services that is not bound or restricted by geographical location. Hence, Mobile financial operations that can be accessed anywhere at any time.
Transparency and security
Crypto employs cryptography to ensure that transactions are secure. It allows for the identification of each user of the money, unlike with traditional modes of payment like fiat money. Transparency and visibility are one the biggest challenges of Banking sectors and many economies. Crypto seeks to be an aid to rewrite the lack of transparency and security narrative where individuals would be directly aware of what is going on with their funds.
Cost-effective Cash
Asides the cost of fiat money being high, there are other limitations and questions that the emergence of crypto is bringing answers to. Crypto comes without the cost of producing, minting and printing money as is obtainable with fiat, it comes with no security cost of transporting money from one geographical settlement to another, it comes without the burden of having to handle physical money, it also comes without the limited 1-15years life cycle fiat money has and having to be destroyed and reproduced later at additional costs.
With the progression of things, Cryptocurrency is soon to ravage the African Financial sphere.
