Does Bitcoin Help The Poor

[IvanShirokov]

People ask why they should buy and support bitcoin.

One good reason.

Bitcoin helps the poor.  

#1  BTC provides banking services to the unbanked  Millions around the world who cannot qualify for a bank account use BTC to conduct business and make electronic transactions.

#2  BTC allows immigrants to send money to families back home  Immigrants from cuba, the middle east and other nations who travel to the USA, europe or asia. Use BTC to send funds to their families back home.

#3  BTC empowers nations with troubled economies like africa, the philippines and venezuela  It provides a means of income to help stabilize dwindling economies like venezuela's. Provides options and opportunities to those in africa and the philippines.

There are other examples but I think people might get the gist of this without them.

Those who wish to help the poor can donate money to charities or propose government assistance. Bitcoin may yet be another method.

I agree with you. If the governments of some countries did not fight the cryptocurrency so much, it could help the development of the economy, and increase the number of small businesses. But it seems to me that bitcoin itself is more useful for middle-class people than for people who are below the poverty line.

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[Lucius]

I would answer this question differently - Bitcoin has actually already helped many poor people to live much better today than was the case, say 5 years ago. For those who remember the period 5-6 years ago when the price of 1 BTC was around $200, everyone had the opportunity to invest in BTC in one way or another. I know a lot of people who chose the easy approach of using faucets who paid very generous figures for BTC at the time - and even then I said that if we save that earnings for at least a few years, those coins will be worth much more than then.

Regardless of the common opinion of "waste of time", even 100k satoshi per day (and this was achievable in 30-60 minutes), was 0.03 BTC per month, which today is worth about $1000. For some people in third countries, these amounts mean real wealth today, and I believe (and I know personal examples) people whose lives have been changed by BTC in a truly positive sense.

[Smartprofit]

Yes, Bitcoin is a very important tool for redistributing global wealth. 

First of all, the first followers (IT specialists) became the winners.  They were the first to receive information about this technology.  They were the first to start mining bitcoins and they had enough technical knowledge not to lose access to their coins. 

Cross-border payments are one of the main useful uses of Bitcoin.  This is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to transfer funds across the border.  Now this can be done without the intermediation of a commercial bank.

[eaLiTy]

 BTC provides banking services to the unbanked  Millions around the world who cannot qualify for a bank account use BTC to conduct business and make electronic transactions.

This is a concept everyone was saying for a long time, but my argument against it is that, i have met many people living under poverty. They do not have the necessary accessories to hold the coins, remember we are talking about people who are not banked and you cannot imagine them to have a smart phone or laptop to hold the coins, suppose they hold the accessories like a smart phone the risk of loosing the coins or forgetting the password are much higher.

[AicecreaME]

I don't think those people are really poor.
Poor people in Venezuela, Cuba, Phillippines, etc doesn't have access to information and cannot really get to know bitcoin.

OP means in general, when he used the "poor" term, not just the people, but the whole country. I agree on Venezuela getting benefited because of Bitcoin adaptation they just did when the lockdown starts, but I disagree here in Philippines. Government here is still not doing anything about adapting Bitcoin or whatsoever, they are focused on just borrowing money to the world bank, steal it secretly, and let its own people pay the whole debt by putting big taxes on everything.

Bitcoin helping the poor should always start above, to those who have the power, and give it to those who are in below and teach them how to use it and why to trust it, just like Venezuela do and other countries who uses Bitcoin.

[VDraci]

You got this right boss  ,bitcoin is a true economy changer, in nigeria when bitcoin was getting popular their government warned they to desist from the technology because it's bubble, scam, pyramid etc but now that the economy situation is getting more worse I'm not surprised to see even the government encouraging youths to go after bitcoin, so laughable 

[sapnu]

Bitcoin does not directly help the poor. There are different kind of poor to be honest. Some are poor because the government are abusing their power and corrupt all the money that could have helped them escape poverty while some are poor because they are too lazy to make a difference on their way of life to finally get out of the cage of being poor. Not everyone will have the courage to start learning bitcoin to escape poverty so it still depend on the people if they would let bitcoin help them become rich someday.

[arifteguhr]

I agree bitcoin helps the poor, but that is only for people who want to try to make money from bitcoin. If they just wait without doing something, they will not get anything and can not solve their finances. If they only bought bitcoin without doing nothing except wait, that will not good because they need to have money, and they will not get that money if they do not do something. If they can buy and sell bitcoin, they will make money from the profit they can use to buy their daily needs.

It is a little difficult for poor people to trade bitcoin, in terms of capital there is a large percentage that poor people prioritize their daily needs. there is a possibility that bitcoin helps poor people in ways that do not use capital, such as doing a task (airdrop) it does not require a lot of capital, because in my country currently bitcoin is starting to be known, for middle to middle people they start with a free to earn bitcoin.

[michellee]

It does not help the poorest of the poor though, the only way you could have an access to bitcoin is by having a device that has an access on the Internet. I would say, that it is more like bitcoin help those who have the access to the Internet. The only way that bitcoin can help the poor is by the mercy of the community surrounding it, if they are willing to give back to the society then bitcoin indeed does help the poor.

If the poorest can access the internet with the device, they can use bitcoin for their purpose. The device itself does not need to be expensive, but it supports to install the wallet to store bitcoin. With the internet grows in many places, that can give more chances to every people to install the wallet and use bitcoin for their benefit. But we should wait until bitcoin can grow the mass adoption among all people in all countries.

It is a little difficult for poor people to trade bitcoin, in terms of capital there is a large percentage that poor people prioritize their daily needs. there is a possibility that bitcoin helps poor people in ways that do not use capital, such as doing a task (airdrop) it does not require a lot of capital, because in my country currently bitcoin is starting to be known, for middle to middle people they start with a free to earn bitcoin.

They can trade bitcoin or hold bitcoin because when they have bitcoin, that will depend on their reason to have that bitcoin. But if they want to increase their bitcoin amount, trading will be the way for them to try. If they can have skills and can analyze better, they will have a chance to make a profit, and they can sell their bitcoin to have fiat money to buy their daily needs.

Doing airdrop will be the other way for them to have ethereum or bitcoin, which can help them make money. All in all, cryptocurrency can give them more chance to make money.

[Jawhead999]

I think it's more appropriate a middle class rather than poor, because poor people doesn't have a phone and internet to access Bitcoin.

Regarding the "qualify for a bank account" I think to create a bank account is more cheap rather than buy a phone, in my country I can create a bank account less than $4, while the phone need around $22-$25 for the cheapest one.

The poor people wouldn't have a lot money to buy that, they only have money to buy food to able survive.

[raidarksword]

The poorest people don't have access on internet so how much more on bitcoin, I would say middle class people have the chances to know and use bitcoin in real basis. I also think the poor people don't wanna involved with they don't have access with wherein they are much more interested on how they can put food on their plates and stomach everyday.

[Obito]

~snip

If the poorest can access the internet with the device, they can use bitcoin for their purpose. The device itself does not need to be expensive, but it supports to install the wallet to store bitcoin. With the internet grows in many places, that can give more chances to every people to install the wallet and use bitcoin for their benefit. But we should wait until bitcoin can grow the mass adoption among all people in all countries.

Have you seen slums or ghettos? Internet and mobile devices are the least of their worries. Having to survive for the day is the one that takes priority the most, and even if there was Internet and devices, technological illiteracy will be a problem since most community in this umbrella are inclusive, outside will only be appreciated if it is a food, financial or labor aid. Not to mention, that they will be skeptic if someone were to offer them some kind of help outside their community, they will be thinking that this help is not for free.

[AniviaBtc]

#3  BTC empowers nations with troubled economies like africa, the philippines and venezuela  It provides a means of income to help stabilize dwindling economies like venezuela's. Provides options and opportunities to those in africa and the philippines.

This is really true, there are a lot of third world countries who are struggling to work or find an opportunity to earn money.

Especially that some of its people are not that knowledgeable about the benefits and importance of bitcoin because of lack of information about bitcoin.

Now that some people in those countries are seizing the opportunity to invest on bitcoin then maybe that's their own way on how to escape poverty and financial crisis.

[Coinsfera]

People ask why they should buy and support bitcoin.
One good reason.
Bitcoin helps the poor.  
#1  BTC provides banking services to the unbanked  Millions around the world who cannot qualify for a bank account use BTC to conduct business and make electronic transactions.
#2  BTC allows immigrants to send money to families back home  Immigrants from cuba, the middle east and other nations who travel to the USA, europe or asia. Use BTC to send funds to their families back home.
#3  BTC empowers nations with troubled economies like africa, the philippines and venezuela  It provides a means of income to help stabilize dwindling economies like venezuela's. Provides options and opportunities to those in africa and the philippines.
There are other examples but I think people might get the gist of this without them.
Those who wish to help the poor can donate money to charities or propose government assistance. Bitcoin may yet be another method.

Some would ask, "Are you sure?" Yes, Bitcoin helps countries with devalued currencies such as Venezuela. Bitcoin will be a hedge for inflation and devaluation for them. But if you look at the modern world, a bunch of bitcoin holders is companies and they hold a lot. If something is getting too popular it goes to the wrong hands. I hope true hodlers hold their bitcoins and do not let other players steal the benefits of Bitcoin from them.

[Oasisman]

~snip~

These example you have enumerated doesn't really help the poor, instead It's a big help for the people in the middle class in a country like the Philippines.
Majority of the poor people in this country are computer and gadget illiterate. Plus, the internet and data connection are so inconsistent and slow.
There are still a lot of things to consider in a certain country's situation, and an improvement in Bitcoin transaction speed and fees as well.
Nevertheless, everything you have enumerated is a good idea.

[Reid]

Strongly agree.  
1. I have no bank account that really exists. It's more like an ATM only when I do my withdrawals but I don't keep money in it for a long period of time. So, I can say I am still unbanked.
2. I send money to relatives with the use of Bitcoin or a third party application instead of the bank to bank.
That's because of number 1.

For me, it is still a waste of time keeping money in the bank. We are just giving them the opportunity to make more money instead of us who should be making more while they are investing it.
I'm not sure about number 3 though.

[AicecreaME]

~snip

If the poorest can access the internet with the device, they can use bitcoin for their purpose. The device itself does not need to be expensive, but it supports to install the wallet to store bitcoin. With the internet grows in many places, that can give more chances to every people to install the wallet and use bitcoin for their benefit. But we should wait until bitcoin can grow the mass adoption among all people in all countries.

Have you seen slums or ghettos? Internet and mobile devices are the least of their worries. Having to survive for the day is the one that takes priority the most, and even if there was Internet and devices, technological illiteracy will be a problem since most community in this umbrella are inclusive, outside will only be appreciated if it is a food, financial or labor aid. Not to mention, that they will be skeptic if someone were to offer them some kind of help outside their community, they will be thinking that this help is not for free.

This is the other concern about this topic. I think they could learn it because they don't have any choice but to adopt the new currency when Bitcoin replaced fiat in the future. And for those who have no gadgets, I hope that the Government will provide everything that we need in order to be prepare in the new future, then later on, we'll just see that everyone is doing great on using cryptocurrency as our main currency.

[mu_enrico]

Absolutely yes! Bitcoin, especially with its forum Bitcointalk, does help many people earn more money, not only the poor.
There are so many opportunities, such as signature campaigns, services, and bounties. Without Bitcoin, there is no way this community can freely exchange services while keeping our privacy.

And the best thing is, we can spend the money in our local community to create a ripple effect (not about XRP, lol). So I can say Bitcoin does help my local street food stalls since I often bought it using my sigcamp money.

The once loved Roger V also stated that "the economic freedom leads to a more prosperous country" (or something similar to this phrase).

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

I believe that bitcoin and the crypto space can help people have their source of income because I am also helped by bitcoin back in the days that I don't need to rely on my parents in supporting my studies and my necessities. The only problem is that not all people have enough resources to use and earn with cryptocurrencies such as internet connection, smartphone, and computer. So it will be difficult for everyone to be saved by bitcoin or crypto financially.

[michellee]

Have you seen slums or ghettos? Internet and mobile devices are the least of their worries. Having to survive for the day is the one that takes priority the most, and even if there was Internet and devices, technological illiteracy will be a problem since most community in this umbrella are inclusive, outside will only be appreciated if it is a food, financial or labor aid. Not to mention, that they will be skeptic if someone were to offer them some kind of help outside their community, they will be thinking that this help is not for free.

Yes, of course, I have already seen that place.  Every country will have that place, and that is the government's concern to help the people who lived there. Maybe it is not be solved in the near, but the government is still working on that to help them, and I am sure that they will live better if the government is still doing hard. If those people want to live better, they will try to search for other ways to make money. And if they can learn about crypto, they will know that they can change their lives better.