As the cryptocurrency industry faces an existential crisis, Azeem Khan, head of impact at Gitcoin and advisor to Foresight Ventures, argues that the path forward lies in embracing the Global South. Limiting ourselves to doing business and growing the industry in the U.S., U.K. and across Europe is not the way, Khan says. In fact, many of the regions some industry participants seem scared of are the places where crypto would do best and do the most good.
Khan points to the stark contrast between how people speak about conferences held in regions like Latin America and those in North America or Western Europe. Last year, Twitter was awash with advice about safety precautions for the Ethereum Community Conference (EthCC) in Bogota, Colombia. High-profile industry figures, including one of the founders of Polygon, decided to sit out the event citing safety concerns.
In contrast, the upcoming EthCC6 in Paris, France, is being met with a lackadaisical attitude towards safety and civil unrest. This isn’t moral policing, Khan says. I’m not suggesting anyone stay home from Paris anymore than they should stay away from Bogota.
Khan argues that the cryptocurrency industry should focus on meaningful engagement with the Global South, which is home to massive potential user bases. He points to the success of M-Pesa, a mobile money transfer service prevalent in Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho and Mozambique. This pre-cryptocurrency wallet launched by Vodafone (Safaricom) has revolutionized financial transactions for millions of individuals without access to traditional bank accounts.
Cryptocurrencies can take the M-Pesa blueprint and improve upon it, Khan says. By introducing more advanced services such as decentralized lending or interest-bearing accounts through decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, we could elevate the financial landscape to new heights the world over.
Khan believes that focusing on the Global South would benefit the cryptocurrency industry, too. For the average American, transitioning from a traditional bank to a cryptocurrency system is filled with significant switching costs and inconveniences, he says. However, this same hurdle doesn’t exist for the unbanked or underbanked in the Global South. These individuals could leapfrog directly into the era of blockchain, bypassing traditional banking systems altogether.
Khan concludes that the cryptocurrency industry must move away from arbitrary targets and divisive attitudes, and instead leverage the potential of blockchain technology to effect real, sustainable change. By daring to extend our vision beyond the traditional boundaries and embracing the Global South with open arms, we could turn this mantra into a testament of progress, inclusivity and shared success, he says.