About a third of the customers queuing at La Maison du Bitcoin’s teller windows in Paris aren’t speculating on the value of the cryptocurrency. They’re sending digital money home to Africa. “In many countries in Africa, there are far more cellphones than bank accounts,” said Manuel Valente, co-founder of La Maison. “For bitcoin, all you need is a phone.”
Zimbabwe, where the price of bitcoin spiked to double the international rate after this week’s military takeover, shows Jamie Dimon, Axel Weber and other cryptocurrency skeptics where the real-world use of bitcoin, and possibly its future, lies. It’s becoming the preferred way for residents of failing economies to transfer money without dealing with banks, protecting their savings from political turmoil, and avoiding the local currency when its value declines due to inflation.
“Bitcoin is a safe haven for people around the world who don’t trust their governments,” said Alistair Milne, chief investment officer and co-founder of Altana Digital Currency Fund, a $22 million hedge fund that invests in cryptocurrency assets. “There are many countries where people are looking for an asset that isn’t vulnerable to banks blowing themselves up.’’
Zimbabwe gave up its own currency in 2009, the same year bitcoin was born, after hyperinflation led to the printing of a 100 trillion Zimbabwean dollar note. The country uses the U.S. dollar, the South African rand and digital money.
Read more here... As highlighted in this story, we can see how Bitcoin and cryptocurrency in general can be functioning as a currency of choice in times of political and economic upheaval. People would be holding on into something that can be helping them when the government and its economic system that are supposed to be protecting them are not anymore functioning well and can sometimes be going against them (just like an autoimmune disease).
Though I am wishing that there would be no people to suffer severe economic displacement, I am always inspired to hear how Bitcoin has become a good ally for the people affected. Those people who are doubting the use of Bitcoin should listen to stories from these people and learn a thing or two of how Bitcoin can be a good savior for the many.
