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digital currency may offer hope. Access to finances, security and privacy of funds, and faith in a common medium of exchange, can help many across the African continent.
Cryptocurrency is not only a solution to the problems of those that do not have a bank to save or invest their money with. It is a method for allowing economically or politically oppressed people to control their own wealth. Digital currency can bring millions of people into a secure and person-driven global economy. The untouchable nature of digital currencies means that a government cannot physically
remove the wealth of a citizen. This is a big step forward, in the social contract, providing an additional layer of security to individuals. All people, especially those that are disadvantaged, need a way to maintain access to their wealth from anywhere in the world. Imagine if a refugee could access a bank account, even after being displaced from their home country.
Cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin are not a miracle cure. They will not solve all of the problems of the world and the underprivileged. Instead, we need to view them more as tools that can be used to help developing world countries with the right
planning and intentions. There are many ways that cryptocurrencies can help our world, with reduced service fees, greater access to banking, combating inflation and fighting corruption just being some of them.
Extracted in part from: Cryptocurrencies: Are Disruptive Financial Innovations Here? by Gautam Vora. Copyright © 2015 by author and Scientific Research Publishing Inc.
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CBI MAGAZINE | August 2020