Defining Cryptocurrency: a digital currency in which encryption techniques are used to regulate the generation of units of currency and verify the transfer of funds, operating independently of a central bank.
Money is a human construct, one we created as a way of sharing and creating value structures within society. Terms like ‘rich‘ and ‘poor‘ emerged as classes to separate and establish the amount an individual owns through whatever means they’ve deemed fit. These classes shaped and segregated different aspects of society, Africa was on the negative end of this with our skin colour there to discredit our value, added is the fact that our own values of exchange had no place in the world. The idea of money/finance has changed over the course of humanity’s stay on earth, dating back to at least a hundred thousand years ago. Different forms have been used as a tool of exchanging the concept of money, in our day and age, its printed on paper in numerous currencies all holding multiple values dependant on the power, economic strength, and history of the nation in charge of that particular currency.
Money serves three main purposes:
- a medium of exchange.
- a store of value.
- a unit of account.
Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a particular country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value. – Via Wikipedia
Truth is you need a strong economic chain to grow and advance any population, money as a commodity provides other tools needed to finance a change, an example is the second industrial revolution powered mostly by Oil, Steel, Iron Tycoons across Western Europe and North America. This boom was inspired by the value given and exchanged for these needs across the world providing monetary substance for ‘Developed‘ countries to feed off.
Blockchain revolutionizes trust as a social dynamic governing human transactions. We hope to embed cryptocurrency into our systems across the conglomerate in order to work outside the confines of a fractured financial market.- Nasir Ahmed, C0-Founder of Baroque Age.
‘We must realize the subject of money is always a matter of trust because money in itself has no use-value for us humans.’
To advance an idea or spark advancement you need a solid vision and understanding of business, banks and how they’re the ones that run/manipulate the 21st-century concept of value and economic politics. The idea of Cryptocurrencies has existed since the 90s, with multiple attempts by individuals to create a system that allowed people conduct transactions and operate their business outside the confines of the banking industry, in early 2000s a solution was put forward right in time for Africa, a continent slowly emerging as an economic powerhouse.
The young and old embrace blockchain in Nigeria, These startups—Luna, Trasefada, Yellow Card, Nairaex, Zilla, Dash, and Kurecoinhub—are just but a few blockchain-based companies in the country. South Africa is one of the leading countries in Africa in adopting blockchain technology. Blockchain has been used to create various services including the Blockchain Academy and the Sun Exchange. – Via TechFinaicials.
We need the banks to power this uproar but due to bad policies, governance and disgraceful scandals by most African banks the idea of cryptocurrencies in the hands of millennials and young business owners will be a way to break chains of marginalization.
Blockchain is being adopted in the Western Fashion Industry;
“Blockchain has become a disruptive technology, but it is really difficult for most people to understand. A lot of enterprises have been attracted to blockchain technology, and the real motivation for them is to develop the new products, features, and services for their clients by embracing this technology,” according to Sunny Lu, COO of BitSE. “Our mission is to transform this sophisticated technology to a real-world commercial application and make it enjoyable for consumers. That is VeChain, and that is what VeChain has done with BABYGHOST – bringing digital experiences to their consumers and enable them to build up a personalized connection with the products they own.”
What is BlockChain Technology?
Blockchain was first effectively utilized on a large scale by a person or group of people known by the pseudonym, Satoshi Nakamoto, who after inventing the Bitcoin technology put out the source code publicly online with 21 million bitcoins created in total set to be released over time, before disappearing.
The blockchain is a digital ledger that keeps the record of all the transactions made through its platform, it stacks sets of transactions in chronological order as they are made, which allows everyone connected to the chain keep track of the records of their transactions and others, creating an open network of accounting and accessibility. The blockchain is a decentralized system which means that individuals do not have to trust a third party to conduct transactions with other individuals the records are not kept in one place as in the case of banks which are centralized, the records are encrypted and stored on every computer that uses the blockchain.
The blockchain is an incorruptible digital ledger of economic transactions that can be programmed to record not just financial transactions but virtually everything of value. –Don & Alex Tapscott, authors Blockchain Revolution (2016).
A network of Nodes make-up a Blockchain, Node – (computer connected to the blockchain network using a client that performs the task of validating and relaying transactions) gets a copy of the blockchain, which gets downloaded automatically upon joining the blockchain network.
By design, the blockchain is a decentralized technology.
You can interact in the crypto universe in several ways, through Bitcoin mining, (a process by which transactions are verified and added to the public ledger aka the blockchain, and also the means through which new bitcoins are released. Anyone with access to the internet and suitable hardware can participate in mining. – via Investopedia), miners get paid in bitcoins as they keep the ledgers of transactions constantly updated. You can also trade Cryptocurrencies, because each coin has a value that relates to actual currencies which means 1 BTC equates a particular amount, and this fluctuates like the regular stock market does as price of stocks go up and down, the idea is there’s a limited amount of bitcoin in circulation as stated earlier and the more volume consumed in the general public, value is added indirectly sometimes positively or negatively. This has given birth to a new market for traders to buy and sell cryptocurrencies. Since the emergence of Bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies have emerged to explore this uncharted territory. African companies are also involved, with the founding of an African bitcoin trading market called Bitkoin Africa by Timi Ajiboye & Ire Aderinokun.
Because it is so effective in providing trust, blockchain is most effective in environments where there is no competition. In other words, in places where the state does not provide a good trust model, blockchain technology can step in and provide a way around existing rules and regulations. – David Crosbie, a lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania
Money has always been a fragile construct with multiple limitations as banks and economic politics serve as hurdles, only fueling the rich and leaving third world nations in ruins, but like all things new, the internet and cryptocurrencies will give Africa its liberation; a uniform currency that can’t restrict us, is connected to the world. As we strive to create a new Africa, let us take into account all areas that development constitutes and try to understand this new technology that helps our chances to break free of the barriers that have been placed on us indefinitely.
