HOW TO DRIVE THE ADOPTION OF CRYPTOCURRENCY
- The adoption of cryptocurrency in the last decade
When I mean old money, I am not talking about dirty notes or rusty coins neither do I refer to freshly minted currencies as new money. I simply want to talk about the means of exchange and its ever-changing properties.
Yes, Money evolves! remember we traded by barter ( fish for meat or bread for water), we traded by exchange of precious stones like diamond and gold and later settled for fiat( regular currency like US dollars and Nigerian Naira).
Change comes when we try to solve problems. Therefore, our money changes because we try to make it better. Each currency had its own unique problem-be it durability or liquidity or control. Over the centuries of existence, humans traded with a lot of items like seashells, pearls, precious stones, tea, tobacco, cow, leather, cloth, salt, wine, etc.
It is true that our means of exchange evolves, and we may not be prepared for a new type of money. Regardless, digital money is here to stay as it is now the new gold. Evolution can be crazy, don’t be scared, Just embrace it!
I am excited to witness the new money of my generation- Cryptocurrency
How wonderful it is to usher in another type of money in our time! Splendid right?! Let me give you a little background; In January 2009, Bitcoin was created. It’s initial users were only a handful of cryptocurrency enthusiasts, mainly programmers that were rewarded for building the bitcoin ecosystem with their computational skills.
Like Gold, bitcoin mining is not beans, nor is it found everywhere. In fact, it takes a lot of advanced IT know-how to mine a bitcoin with lots of energy consumption…(I’ll save the details for later)
JOURNEY SO FAR…
Unexpectedly, the reality of digital money is somewhat taking a slow turn at adoption than we anticipated. Many cryptocurrency evangelists predicted that banks, governments and every centralised system of transactions would be disrupted by this new money like a tsunami.
Alas, we are yet to have this money sweep across the globe as predicted. The anticipated disruption has been strongly attacked by restrictive government policies, fraudulent use and bad publicity.
You may wonder
- What exactly is different about this money, why is it so difficult to accept into the system for everyday transactions?
- Could it be because it was introduced by the masses and not the powers that be?
- Or could it be because it gives power to no major government/entity and strips them of their control?
There are so many factors affecting the adoption of cryptocurrencies and the only ways to combat them is to
- Educate : Too many people do not understand cryptocurrency because it cannot be seen or felt. A rapid adoption will be spurred by enlightenment. The onus lies on the stakeholders and enthusiasts of the blockchain technology to spread the gospel of cryptocurrency.
- Regulate: Yea, I know the purpose of cryptocurrency is to take away the powers that be but ,so far, lack of regulation has encouraged a lot of scam, fraud and negative use of cryptocurrency. Therefore, we can push for some form of government regulation that will enforce punitive measures on negative usage.
- Adopt: Simply adopt cryptocurrency for transactions in your community or company. Everyday usage of cyrptocurrency will influence its adoption across the globe. You can check online for coins accepted in local markets and malls around you.
- Secure: Cryptocurrency wallets are not as safe as should be. The more secure it is, the more the trust and acceptance.
