I have been saying for years that the Bitcoin revolution is magical in that it reconciles individual interests with those of the collective.
As a Westerner, you buy Bitcoin to take power over the fruits of your labor. You want to gain self-sovereignty over your wealth.
Monetary inflation of currencies has probably only become a concern for you since the COVID-19 pandemic. That's when the flaws of the current system were exposed more than ever in the face of the general public. In a matter of months, more than a third of all U.S. dollars currently in circulation were printed out of thin air by the Fed.
As the Fed simply exported the inflation of the U.S. dollar, the same thing happened everywhere else in the world.
This is where the choice of Bitcoin became even more natural for many Westerners who still had the feeling that they were not in a flawed system.
Of course, it is not the majority of the general public that has become aware of these realities, but the adoption of Bitcoin has been greatly accelerated.
For people in emerging countries, monetary hyperinflation and censorship have been a daily reality for a long time. But even more than censorship, it is monetary hyperinflation that is driving people in Lebanon, Nigeria, Argentina, Venezuela, and Zimbabwe to Bitcoin.
Bitcoin is seen there as the best way to protect themselves from the monetary hyperinflation that is a problem of the present. In the West, there is still room for improvement, but this is likely to happen when we see how governments and central bankers are acting to rescue and protect the current system at all costs.
People in emerging countries also want to be able to trade freely with each other across borders. This is especially true in Africa.
That's why I frequently say that Bitcoin is already an everyday Plan A for millions of people around the world. By being Bitcoin HODLers, you are helping these people in your way. This is the reconciliation of personal interests with those of the collective.
When I explain this, some people come up to me and say: how can Bitcoin help people who don't have access to the Internet?
These people, who are always looking for ways to criticize rather than improve the situation for the majority, tell me that the penetration rate in Africa is far too low for Bitcoin to help millions of people as I say.
My answer is simple: I wouldn't lie to you and say that the Internet penetration rate in Africa and even in Asia is tremendous.
According to the latest figures I could find, the Internet penetration rate in Africa is only 43%:
And it is precisely in Africa that the majority of the 1.4 billion people who will still be unbanked in 2023 are located:
It is primarily these people who need Bitcoin to access basic banking services.
So how do we go about it?
Rather than saying that we need to wait until the Internet can be deployed in these emerging countries, we need to look for innovation. Bitcoin does not need the Internet to work, as I have explained before:
"Why Governments Will Never Take On Bitcoin by Attempting an Internet Shutdown"
The real question is what happens when you make a transaction on the Bitcoin network. In reality, you only need to send data to nodes on the network. It's all about the data here.
A few years ago, Blockstream has started to develop a solution that allows you to run your node on the Bitcoin network without needing the Internet on Earth since it is connected to the network via a satellite link. Quite advantageous in such a situation.
You can also imagine solutions to transfer data by SMS and use Bitcoin in this way. This is what is being developed in Africa, where the Internet penetration rate is not always high enough to allow people to benefit from Bitcoin.
I told you about the Machankura project in mid-2022.
This project is an innovation that allows Bitcoin to be sent and received via the GSM network in the following African countries:
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Ghana
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Kenya
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Malawi
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Namibia
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Nigeria
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South Africa
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Uganda
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Zambia
Of course, the service is still young and it is hoped that it will cover more countries as it develops.
But this service is a major innovation that already meets a vital need for millions of people in Africa. This service is based on a simple observation that was highlighted again during a presentation at Mobile World Congress 2023:
“3.6 billion people - 45% of the world's population - remain unconnected. Of this number, only 5% live in areas not covered by a mobile broadband network.”
Of the 3.6 billion people who still do not have access to the Internet, only 5% do not live in areas covered by mobile broadband networks. These people have minimal access to the GSM network.
So we need to build services that bring the Bitcoin revolution to them. This is where Machankura's initiative is a game-changer right now for millions of people in Africa.
More generally, this type of initiative is there to remind all those who criticize Bitcoin that there are two kinds of people in life:
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Those who innovate and make things happen.
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Those who criticize, denigrate, and never make things happen.
With Bitcoin, you have to be in the first category.
The Bitcoin revolution is already available to far more people than the powerful people at the head of the current system would have you believe. Most importantly, with a community as passionate as the Bitcoin community to try to always find answers to help as many people as possible benefit from this revolution, you can be sure that things will only get better in the future.
I've highlighted the Machankura project here, but other initiatives exist all over the world and more will be born. With Bitcoin, motivated and ambitious entrepreneurs have access to a limitless playground.
For the good of the many.
Bitcoin Ends Q1 2023 at +72%. Some Musings on What’s in Store for the Market in April 2023.
The monthly resistance at $28.8K has not been broken, but even so, it is still not time to be Bearish.
Link: https://inbitcoinwetrust.substack.com/p/bitcoin-ends-q1-2023-at-72-some-musings
Don't take for granted the word of Bitcoiners who tell you that Bitcoin is an incredible monetary revolution, but verify it for yourself by developing the knowledge to build your truth about Bitcoin.
That's what I suggest you do in the book “The Truth About Bitcoin: Everything you need to build your truth about Bitcoin and stop trusting others without verifying.”
The book is available on various platforms:
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In P2P mode in PDF format or EPUB format with payment in BTC (-20% if you buy in Bitcoin): contact me by email at [email protected]
