Millions of people around the world are becoming independent business owners thanks to bitcoin. After visiting neighborhoods in Nigeria and Colombia, I discovered people reclaiming their power and making their own plans to achieve financial independence. Communities are eradicating boundaries and restrictions while revolutionizing money without the need for a middleman or higher authority.
The next wave of Bitcoin adoption in Kenya is being driven by peer-to-peer (P2P) financing. Along with Nigeria, South Africa, and Tanzania, the nation had one of the highest rates of grassroots adoption just one year ago. We are witnessing a nation where Bitcoin benefits everyone equally, not just a small percentage of people. Bitcoin is a way of life and a chance to experience a better financial future for people like Andrey.
With an emphasis on Africa, we’ll also follow Paco as he explores the continent while promoting and showcasing Bitcoin.
The stories and use cases in the book Bitcoinforthe100 demonstrate that bitcoin is truly for everyone. The voices of those embracing Bitcoin for independence and self-sovereignty outside the constraints of the conventional financial system can be heard below.
Nairobi, Kenya: Andrey Sikdelnikov
Andrey has fundamentally altered how he manages his money. He switched from using Kenyan shillings as his primary currency to only using bitcoin now. He leads the way with Bitcoin and is eager for the rest of the world to follow, despite any obstacles that may stand in his way.
Because not all merchants in Kenya (or the entire world) accept bitcoin as a form of payment, Andrey had to think of innovative ways to solve the problem. When a retailer refuses to accept bitcoin, he explained, “I sell my bitcoin on Paxful and get the necessary amount in shillings to my phone and then pay my bill.” Andrey doesn’t need to miss a beat because these transactions take less than two minutes to complete. He doesn’t have to make sure he has the right amount in his bank account because he can make transactions instantly without planning ahead.
Find out more about his tale here.
Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India: Paco de la India
Paco was motivated by the idea of time preference for humanity to take action to demonstrate how Bitcoin could give people financial freedom. Paco knew he could use his passion for Bitcoin and his love of travel to bring about a greater good.
Paco has always been a world traveler, so it makes sense that he discovered Bitcoin while on a trip to Germany. Paco told us that in 2015, a crazy German man in his shorts began yelling in the hostel to buy bitcoin. At the time, he didn’t give it much thought, dismissing it as something he wasn’t interested in because he was preoccupied with his travels.
Moving forward to 2021, Paco made the decision that it was time to start using Bitcoin. He selected Dr. Saifedean Ammous’ book “The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative To Central Banking” and devoured everything it had to offer. The book captivated Paco, and he learned about freedom and the idea of time-preference in addition to learning about bitcoin. He said, “We should really hold onto something that is not under anyone’s control.”
Paco has started his 400-day journey to 40 different countries today. the difficulty? During his travels, he only uses bitcoin to spread awareness of it and show off its strength.
Renata Rodrigues has written this as a guest. The views expressed are solely their own and may not represent those of Bitcoin Magazine or BTC Inc.
