The adoption of Bitcoin in “The Third World” is not as apparent as it is in “The First World” because in opposition to the developed countries, the underdeveloped ones have less access to technology and the population there are less technological literate in general. Although many people in the so-called underdeveloped countries got into Bitcoin for the same reasons mentioned for the developed countries and based on the Bitcoin phases mentioned in the introduction, there are some unique factors that pushed people of the less fortunate countries to adopt the Bitcoin alternative. Here I will list a few of them.
Iran’s Adoption
Iran Licenses $7.3 Million Bitcoin Mining Enterprise
Amid US financial sanctions on Iran (Which is now of the biggest Bitcoin Mining countries in the world) and considering Iran’s highly technical and tech savvy population it was relatively easy for Iranians to adopt Bitcoin as a way to bypass the said sanctions. US sanctions include barring Iranian financial institutions from dealing with the U.S Financial system, aka using dollars and send bank transfers to foreign countries. However, the Iranian citizens were allowed to deal with the U.S. Financial system through foreign banks. Therefore, Bitcoin is now being used in Iran as a way to transfer wealth from Iran to the outside world and continue their unhampered trading. Normally, when a country’s access to the U.S. Financial system becomes limited its Dollar funds become limited as well. Considering national currencies are backed by the existence of U.S. Dollars in the system and the central bank reserves, the Iranian Rial saw a massive depreciation against the U.S. dollar. Hence, Bitcoin is now also being used by the Iranians as a store of value and a hedge asset. Bitcoin’s censorship resistance made it possible to be adopted by the Iranians and the Iranian perception towards it as an uncorrelated financial asset to the local political and economical uncertainties drove them to acquire it.
Venezuela’s Adoption
Venezuela is the cheapest country for Bitcoin Mining
Venezuela’s hyperinflation of the Bolivar is popular enough without any introductions. Of course, Venezuelans searched for alternatives, however Maduro’s confiscation of ‘hard’ currencies and precious metals left Venezuelans with little options. Considering the Electricity subsidy in Venezuela, mining bitcoin there became the cheapest in the world and Venezuelans saw a lot of profit in doing so. Moreover, with the Venezuelan government introducing the ‘Petro’, the national issued cryptocurrency, the authorities actively introduced the population to the concept of cryptocurrencies as a whole. Naturally, when people got introduced to crypto and considering no one really wanted to use the Petro in the first place, Venezuelans were driven to put their hands on the best cryptocurrency out there and arguably that is Bitcoin. With all that being said, Bitcoin is now the leading parallel currency in Venezuela.
Africa’s Adoption (Zimbabwe, South Africa, East Africa & Nigeria)
Within the continent of Africa many different countries adopted Bitcoin for many different reasons. In Zimbabwe, Bitcoin is a good alternative for the ever inflating Zollar. In South Africa, a relatively wealthy African country, Bitcoin’s usage has become as simple as retail transactions as it widely accepted all over the country. In East Africa, Bitcoin is being used as a cross border transaction tool. Lastly, Nigerians are using Bitcoin as a protest against the conventional monetary system that consistently failed them.
Conclusion
Bitcoin is not a top down technology decreed by the authorities. It is not a one rule fits all type of concept. Bitcoin is perceived as a revolution, it is order, profit or simply an interesting technology, but most importantly Bitcoin can serve as a solution to some. Once Bitcoin proves its capability to solve a collective problem, this is exactly when mass adoption takes place. It is not that you want Bitcoin, it is more like you absolutely need it sometimes.
