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20 sats \ 6 replies \ @TheBTCManual 9 May 2022
Loads of cheeleading on this topic, but no ones talking about how bitcoin gets into the hands of a country where only 10% of people have access to electricity and low smartphone penetration.
Their regional banks haven't even considered how they would offer it to people, there is zero educational drives going on in the country as compared to El Salvador.
I don't see the government acquiring a position, working with African countries with bitcoin exchanges to bring them in.
Seems like a PR stunt more than anything else
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525 sats \ 3 replies \ @KenyaCoin 9 May 2022
They aren't mandating that the population must use bitcoin, they are saying to the people, hey ... if you want to use bitcoin, you can use bitcoin.
Merchants, on the other hand, are expected to accept bitcoin when a customer wishes to pay in bitcoin, granted the merchant has the technology to accommodate that.
Of course, many merchants won't be keeping the bitcoin, because their expenses might need to be paid in local currency, the CFA franc (XAF). But the central bank providing conversion from bitcoin to CFA will provide the government with bitcoin, which is liquid globally directly into foreign currencies.
Why would there be customers wanting to pay in bitcoin? Because that will be the preferred method by the diaspora when sending remittances to the CAR. And because that will be the preferred currency transferred in to the NGOs, who then spend those bitcoin in-country, and only "cash out" into CFA where their vendors and staff cannot accept bitcoin.
Freelancers who might already have been getting paid in bitcoin for their work done remotely for employers abroad will now be able to spend that bitcoin without first converting it into CFA.
Bitcoin will also be the payment method preferred when exporting to the countries in which CAR shares a border: Sudan, South Sudan, and DR Congo (Kinshasa), as well as when exporting to other countries on the continent which do not use CFA.
There's also the concept of a shared phone. While most adults have at least a feature phone, a single smartphone might be shared among an entire family, including an extended family. Phone charging does not require a hook up to the grid. Solar chargers are common, and it is also common to pay a small amount at a shop for them to charge your phone. Mobile connectivity (including mobile data) reaches most of the population.
Is this a big deal for bitcoin? At first glance, .. no, not really, ... CAR is a country with a (relatively) small population, and a small sized economy. Is this a big deal for the million or so people who suddenly will have, for the first time in their lives, access to global digital money the same as you and me? For some of them, yes -- yes it is a big deal. And when there's a third, fourth, and fifth country that adopts bitcoin -- you'll appreciate that this development by CAR as having more significance than just the small numbers this country represents.
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20 sats \ 2 replies \ @TheBTCManual 9 May 2022
I think we need to be realistic here, I assume you're based in Kenya, while I am based in South Africa, how many government rules are properly enforced in your country?
Very few in mine, so why would bitcoin be an exception to the rule? I am not asking for governments to get involved I don't mind it happening organically as people choose to but if they have no idea wtf it is why would they choose it?
I think the focus is on education
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @KenyaCoin 10 May 2022
Firstly, without explicitly permitting bitcoin use for payments, merchants adding bitcoin as a payment method wouldn't happen organically. Without the central bank providing BTC/XAF conversion, it wouldn't be feasible for merchants to add bitcoin as a payment method. With both of those in place, reluctance by merchants is diminished significantly.
Now education will, of course, be needed. But education alone doesn't give a reason to use bitcoin. Almost nobody is going to convert their CFA into bitcoin, only to go and spend bitcoin (at least, not domestically). But if they receive bitcoin, then will then want to spend bitcoin. I gave some examples above on how bitcoin might enter the country.
One important distinction between South Africa and CAR is that all ZAR circulating came at ~zero cost, thanks to seigniorage. With CFA, there is no CFA that come at zero cost, at least not to the central bank serving CAR or anyone else in the country. So there is no direct economic benefit to the government in sticking to CFA (XAF) only. Just as there was no direct economic benefit to El Salvador sticking with the US dollar only.
Also, this law likely isn't about ensuring you can pay in bitcoin for your restaurant meal, but more likely so that the government has access to money that is outside of the banking network (which is dependent on France).
But as you mention -- gotta be realistic. This is not only a very small country (by population) with a civil war underway, but also a country with very few resources to address the many needs of its people. But I don't think making it explicitly legal to own and use bitcoin in commerce is a bad first step.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @KenyaCoin 10 May 2022
Firstly, without explicitly permitting bitcoin use for payments, merchants adding bitcoin as a payment method wouldn't happen organically. Without the central bank providing BTC/XAF conversion, it wouldn't be feasible for merchants to add bitcoin as a payment method. With both of those in place, reluctance by merchants is diminished significantly.
Now education will, of course, be needed. But education alone doesn't give a reason to use bitcoin. Almost nobody is going to convert their CFA into bitcoin, only to go and spend bitcoin (at least, not domestically). But if they receive bitcoin, then will then want to spend bitcoin. I gave some examples above on how bitcoin might enter the country.
One important distinction between South Africa and CAR is that all ZAR circulating came at ~zero cost, thanks to seigniorage. With CFA, there is no CFA that come at zero cost, at least not to the central bank or anyone else in CAR. So there is no direct economic benefit to the government in sticking to CFA (XAF) only. Just as there was no direct economic benefit to El Salvador sticking with the US dollar only.
Also, this law likely isn't about ensuring you can pay in bitcoin for your restaurant meal, but more likely so that the government has access to money that is outside of the banking network (which is dependent on France).
But as you mention -- gotta be realistic. This is not only a very small country (by populatin) with a civil war underway, but also a country with very few resources to address the many needs of its people. But I don't think making it explicitly legal to own and use bitcoin in commerce is a bad first step.
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20 sats \ 1 reply \ @Coinosphere 9 May 2022
Of course it's primarily a PR stunt. Unless we want to buy a ton of cheap smartphones and mail them to everyone in the CAR then there simply isn't a way to get coins in everyone's hands in that country yet.
However, the president is a computer science guy who sounds like he actually gets bitcoin. And he certainly has no love for the CFA. So while this news isn't in the same ballpark as El Salvador's effort, it is another orange country on the map and a real thorn in the side of the CFA system.
I guess what we're really hoping for is for the other CFA countries to follow suit.
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20 sats \ 0 replies \ @TheBTCManual 9 May 2022
I agree with your sentiments, I just don't want the momentum to fall flat, they need to push on from here. At least some sort of infrastructure announcement, be it banks now have BTC denominated accounts, be that the country will convert a portion into BTC, be that using BTC as a settlement for exports.
I think Cameroon would be the CFA country that would be the one to take the lead here, then I would be far more bullish on adoption and this news.
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1 sat \ 0 replies \ @faithandcredit 8 May 2022
thats a shame but maybe the french colonial franc system can find a way to adapt.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @BlokchainB 9 May 2022
Fuck the CFA!! Let the people have economic freedom
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Coinosphere 8 May 2022
Bummer, dude.
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