How Kenya’s Largest Slum Became a Thriving Bitcoin Economy

In a remarkable development, around 200 people in Kibera, the largest slum in Kenya, adopt Bitcoin for daily use. Three years of local activism have brought web 3 to Nairobi’s poorest workers.
However, field reports have shown that many of these adopters are mainly interested in Bitcoin growth potential. Building a cryptographic community under these conditions is possible, but it is extremely difficult.
Bitcoin as a rescue buoy for Kenya without bench
The American Bitcoin FNB have considerably transformed the cryptography industry, stimulating institutional adoption for the first cryptocurrency. Companies and institutions now consider Bitcoin as a reserve of value and a reserve asset.
However, Satoshi’s vision for BTC was much more decentralized, intended to serve those who abandoned the traditional financial system. Although this vision was not entirely materialized in the West, developing regions show a different story.
New reports show that hundreds of people in Kenya adopt Bitcoin for daily transactions.
Specifically, ABC AFRIBIT AFRICA, A STARTUP Fintech It has been working in Kenya since 2022, with inspiring this adoption of Bitcoin.
He managed To grant subsidies to local collectors to accept their salary in BTC, a decision that has multiple obvious advantages. From there, vegetable sellers and other local entrepreneurs began to join the trend.
In addition to the drop in costs that automatic ticket distributors, Kenya’s poorest citizens could benefit from several other Bitcoin advantages. Although the flights and kidnappings linked to the crypto increase in the first world, the transport of money is much more dangerous in Kibera.
In addition, Bitcoin provides high yields, allowing users to take advantage of their income.
However, there are a lot of obstacles. Kibera, Kenya, has an estimated population of 250,000 to 1 million people, but only about 200 of them use bitcoin.
Web access 3 does not require a bank account, but it requires a device, a diet and an internet connection. In addition, it is not even the biggest problem.
Field reports have revealed that many of these 200 Kenyans use Bitcoin mainly as a speculative asset, just like their counterparts in the West.
Journalists found and interviewed several residents who put 70% or 80% of their net value in the BTC. In other words, optimistic affirmations concerning daily adoption can be exaggerated.
For these people, why spend the assets on everyday goods when he can grow daily? And yet, if Bitcoin crashes, this overexposure could bring a disaster to some of the poorest residents in Kenya.
Going from these models of use to a real cryptographic community will take education, investment and time.
All this to say, it will take more than one startup to really bring Bitcoin to Kenya. Afribit subsidies, which amounted to more than $ 10,000, gave this adoption a shot in the arm.
If the subsidies were to dry, this emerging community would not be sustainable.
However, it is always a positive sign of the way in which crypto slowly but surely helps the non -banished population to obtain financial access in an environment where traditional institutions and banks only serve the higher social class.
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