You are viewing a single comment's thread from:
RE: Witnessing the Aftermath of Hyperinflation: Zimbabwe
Why not just stick with a gold standard?
Why not just stick with the Bitcoin standard?
I bet everyone has a cellphone and a trickling internet?
Why not just stick with a gold standard?
Why not just stick with the Bitcoin standard?
I bet everyone has a cellphone and a trickling internet?
Have you ever visited Africa?
People do neither know about Bitcoin nor do they have internet access in the villages.
Many people have cellphones now. In the cities.
Rural Africa is another world. They may have HF-radio in some places. Thats how some farmers work in Namibia. 6hrs drive to the next village or town. And no, not on highways.
And talking trust - ask people on the street in any given 1st world country about Bitcoins.
Some may have heard about it. Its some Darknet-thing for buying drugs and weapons, isnt it?
Gold has a long history for being traded and trusted.
Bitcoin doesnt yet.
In my experience with Zimbabwe and in Zambia many slums have internet access and nearly everyone has a cell phone, which is why M-Pesa is a popular option for them to use for making payments. Everyone who I talked to was extremely receptive and interested in learning more about Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. I can't help but think it's an untapped market which absolutely has the opportunity to change their lives.
I am aware that the cities have net coverage and people have cell phones there.
There sure is a great potential for Bitcoin there.
Correct me if I am wrong, but rural Africa is a different story.
Which means that using Bitcoins as a national standard is out of the questions. It may help in international money transfers, once a culture of exchange posts are established. And these exchanges will take fees, so they need to compete to become cheaper than Western union (international) or M-Pesa (national / regional). Which means it is a bit of a hen-egg-problem.
Because in the end, everybody wants cash on the table.
Loose your cell phone and mess up the passphrase, there goes your fortune.
It may take people a while to trust this new thing.
Few people do in the 1st world by now, so progress may take a while.
What is needed is some major company sparking it off.
Yes you're right about rural Africa. They rarely even have electricity and running water let alone wifi. Also those who are living in rural Africa are most likely farmers who take great pride in what they produce and rely heavily on the yields. They can also be stubborn to realize change. I met a young man who built a school for the youth of a small village. Yet the families there were against it at first because they viewed education as pointless, that their children will just take over the farms when they pass on so they'd be wasting their time in school.
Absolutely it will take lots of time and a big company willing to invest in that market. They might be apprehensive but yet again in my experience with speaking with a few locals from cities they were all quite open to the concept. I bet once they see how it can work it'll help solidify the success there.
Farmers and fishermen need to be stubborn to survive.
Spend some time with them sharing their work and you can not help but respect this as a virtue.
Plus the last thing, people with a low self-esteem can cope with are some know-it-all-kids, who then dissappear to the city with some more or less good job.
Understandable. In a way. And tragic.
The problem is no major company can currently invest in Zim. I work for a retail group with the most stores in Africa. We had one in Zim, but the Zim government forced down so many laws that it became impossible to trade. For a long time, we just kept the store open that the population got something to buy, but it became more and more difficult. When they reach the stage where the government started to nationalise all non-local businesses, we had to close the store and move out of the country.
Thanks for the feedback, @krabgat.
Zimbabwe succeeded in surpassing some of the worst post-Rhodesian scenarios.
To gain our freedom, we should rely on Bitcoin, gold and silver. Not one, but all three together.