The protracted economic meltdown in Zimbabwe has given rise to the adoption of multiple currencies within the nation. The revolution coming about as a result of the cryptocurrency startup, BitFinance, has become a subject of interest to one of the world's most respected institutions of research, Stanford University.
BitFinance is not only revolutionizing the fragile Zimbabwean economy, but could also have an impact on the Bitcoin revolution in Africa as a whole.
Here are some experts’ opinions on the impact of the study on the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Tawanda Kembo is a Bitcoin evangelist and team member at BitFinance. Cointelegraph has asked him why he thinks Stanford University became interested in their company and what impact this is having on the company and the region as a whole. He said:
“I suppose Stanford found the whole idea of a multiple currency country and the prospect of using Bitcoin rather exciting and a worthwhile case to study for business students. More so the fact that a group of friends in a country down through an economic meltdown had woken up one day and decided to make a difference in their own country despite the reality of mammoth challenges. This has generated a feeling of awe, and has put our optimism on steroids. This is not the easiest of businesses to start and we feel uplifted, motivated and encouraged that we are doing something worth recognising. But most of all we are humbled that Stanford so it fit that our ‘hustle’ is study-worthy. And without doubt, publishing of the case is a lot of advertising, which would have cost the company good money to do, our story will definitely reach more audiences and hopefully done in this way it will be less of a task to be taken seriously. We are hopeful that the case will also raise interest among investors from all manner, because this is what we need to catapult ourselves to where we want to be.”
Hope for more
Tim Frost is the Vice President of Marketing and Business at Wirex Limited, the owners of E-Coin. Tim believes that as more and more institutions dedicate research to evaluating the impact Bitcoin has in the developing world the better, saying that there are a lot of theories out there about the impact that Bitcoin can have in the developing world. He also feels that as more independent studies are performed, it will only become clearer where digital currencies are truly making an impact.
According to Tim;
“At E-Coin we feel the P2P infrastructure of Bitcoin is still very immature. As a company we have seen large growth in the handful of African countries we are able to ship to. We receive a lot of feedback that people are receiving Bitcoin as remittance, salary, and a number of different reasons. With their E-Coin card they are able to use their Bitcoin in everyday life. So our company experience is that digital currencies are having a significant positive impact in the developing world.
Digital currencies may be the most misunderstood technology I have ever came across. As a technology there are many advantages to the legacy system but with research such as this and more, we expect the educational process to start to spread. We can only hope more case studies such as this will help shed a light on the positive attributes of blockchain based currencies.”
National cryptocurrencies inevitable
Anari Sangbe is the Co-Founder at ProducTank. Anari had this to say;
“For those already in the know, the study confirms things we already know. I'm sure other higher institution research will say the same and this is important for the older generation of Africans. Include Stanford or Harvard in your explanation and they listen.
It is going to be a fascinating watch, when we get to the stage where countries are create their own national cryptocurrency. It is inevitable and studies like this, that engage even the academic skeptic could help countries in Africa lead in that experiment.”
It is a good development
Joel Cano is a Bitcoin evangelist. Joel said;
“I think is [sic] really good that Academics give public opinions about Bitcoin and blockchain and the challenges faced by startups.”
Roger Ver is also a Bitcoin evangelist and investor. He thinks it is a positive development. Roger said;
“The bigger the Bitcoin ecosystem becomes, the less important any one company or event is. The more people involved the better, so I’m very glad to see things like this taking place.”
Jani Valjavec is the Co-Founder at Cashila. In Jani’s words,
“It's not only important from a practical view of getting information into right and smart people who will start their career anytime, but also it comes as an endorsement of Bitcoin and blockchain technology itself. Validation after validation from right institutions.”