Africa (and Bitcoin?) to the World 🌍

Hellloooo fam, and Happy New Year! Not sure if we passed the threshold of when wishing someone a happy new year becomes socially unacceptable, but who’s gonna check us? 😂

No but seriously, we hope you enjoyed the holiday season with loved ones and are entering 2023 with renewed joy, positive vibes, and excitement for what’s to come this year. We definitely are! 

Over the past two weeks, we both explored the African continent with our Wharton classmates and had an absolute blast, so thanks for giving us the space to take a break and experience the motherland. Adding in some pics of us from our travels! Starting off with Chad who went to Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Botswana:

And Kendall who spent her first time in Africa in Ghana for Detty December (IYKYK) and Senegal! 

Of course no trip is complete without buying a couple of souvenirs, like Kendall’s new favorite fan pictured above, from the local markets. The one thing to be mindful of though? The only form of payment most of these vendors currently accept is cash money, word to Lil Wayne. This made it slightly difficult for us to make all of the purchases we wanted, especially when you underestimate how much you may need for all your shopping desires. It also made getting around the city on a whim a bit harder because most drivers only accept “cash rides” instead of using apps such as Uber.  

This had us thinking about how African countries, and other countries across the world, are thinking about the adoption and legalization of cryptocurrency to make the payment process easier, more accessible, and more trustworthy. 

“No we don’t take AMEX, but we do take Bitcoin” - vendor at a local shop in Central African Republic 

Contrary to what you might think, this is actually happening in a few countries around the world. Bitcoin and select cryptocurrencies are being recognized as legal tender at the federal level. Where? Here are a few examples, from furthest along to thinking through ideas:

• El Salvador: became the first country ever to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender

• Central African Republic (CAR): in the Spring of 2022, CAR became the first African country to recognize bitcoin as legal tender

• Brazil: before the end of his presidency, Brazilian president, Jair Bolsonaro, signed a bill legalizing cryptocurrency as a recognized form of payment

• United Kingdom: coined the term Digital Settlement Assets (read: payments, service providers, insolvency arrangements) to authorize treasury regulations

• UAE: established a legal framework to protect investors and create international standards for industry governance

What are the benefits and potential consequences of countries adopting crypto?

It’s not lost on the crypto community that 2022, especially the second half, was pretty turbulent… to say the least (re: the FTX fiasco). This naturally causes some understandable skepticism around crypto’s role in the future of finance, and we get it. However, the fact that governments are beginning the adoption process is a green flag about the future of crypto and where it’s headed. 

The biggest pro to countries adopting crypto as a form of payment is that it creates a type of payment that is easily transferable and accessible by people from across the world, no matter who or where they are. Instead of having to go to a foreign exchange to change US Dollars to Ghanaian Cedis in order to purchase an item from a local market, you could pay in Bitcoin—a universal form of currency.

However, we’d be remiss not to acknowledge regulation that is still required to ensure bad guys don’t take advantage of this transition to decentralized finance. This will be a huge focus moving forward and we look forward to seeing how governments strike a balance between decentralization and regulation.  

What does this mean for you and what to expect this upcoming year?

While the FTX fiasco and the decline in cryptocurrency valuations might lead many to believe that cryptocurrency is far too volatile of an asset, for many countries all over the world, their own local currency fluctuates a lot too, if not more! Cryptocurrencies are an attempt to hopefully create a new stable environment for the currency, but it’s simply too early to tell. Many countries are also brainstorming ideas to drive crypto adoption on the homefront so we wouldn't be surprised if we saw more places adopting this trading asset in 2023!