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Serious question - why is BTC a unique answer? Can't you buy index funds or ETFs? Can you not easily convert Naira to USD and/or Euro? Does the government forbi

Serious question - why is BTC a unique answer? Can't you buy index funds or ETFs? Can you not easily convert Naira to USD and/or Euro? Does the government forbid this?

627467 6y ago
Have you tried to do that while being part of non-first world financial system? Normally if local currency is being devalued by government it goes along with capital control mechanisms that essentially renders other investments impossible
vinniejames 6y ago
Because the vast majority of people living in earth don't have access to traditional equity markets
hi5eyes 6y ago
the base case for cryptocurrency has and will always be democratizing finance, finance for the people that don't have the same access. banking for the unbanked, as naive as that sounds. uncensorable money, in the case of monero/zcash/privacy focused coins especially
retrac 6y ago
Getting access to that is tricky, even for a lot of people towards the bottom of the income brackets in the developed world. There are regulatory or financial or other hurdles. Just trying to send ordinary sums (say $1000) to someone in Venezuela, or Nigeria, or even India or China can be very tricky. Not everyone has PayPal. Even if they do, it may be subject to all sorts of capital controls or taxes that we do not see in most Western countries. It can often be either impractical or extortionate through the traditional financial system. I have many reservations about Bitcoin, but if I just needed to send some money to someone in a developing country, it's pretty high up there on practical and simple ways to do so, if they can deal with the BTC on their end. Canada is quite free financially. I can send cash pretty much wherever, with no legal concerns if it's not funding crime and any investment returns are taxed. The legality on their end is another question, as this article shows.
Dma54rhs 6y ago
Can't speak for Nigerians but Europeans don't have access to ETFs either. There truly is incredible entry barrier to many things if you're not born in a right country.
- kilpikaarna 6y ago
  Huh? Where is this? I absolutely can put money into ETFs traded on the Frankfurt exchange via my broker.
  - Dma54rhs 6y ago
    I was talking about the American market. Unless you're a professional investor you can't touch ETFs if you're an euro.

Serious question - why is BTC a unique answer? Can't you buy index funds or ETFs? Can you not easily convert Naira to USD and/or Euro? Does the government forbid this?

627467 6y ago

Have you tried to do that while being part of non-first world financial system? Normally if local currency is being devalued by government it goes along with capital control mechanisms that essentially renders other investments impossible

vinniejames 6y ago

Because the vast majority of people living in earth don't have access to traditional equity markets

hi5eyes 6y ago

the base case for cryptocurrency has and will always be democratizing finance, finance for the people that don't have the same access. banking for the unbanked, as naive as that sounds. uncensorable money, in the case of monero/zcash/privacy focused coins especially

retrac 6y ago

Getting access to that is tricky, even for a lot of people towards the bottom of the income brackets in the developed world. There are regulatory or financial or other hurdles. Just trying to send ordinary sums (say $1000) to someone in Venezuela, or Nigeria, or even India or China can be very tricky. Not everyone has PayPal. Even if they do, it may be subject to all sorts of capital controls or taxes that we do not see in most Western countries. It can often be either impractical or extortionate through the traditional financial system. I have many reservations about Bitcoin, but if I just needed to send some money to someone in a developing country, it's pretty high up there on practical and simple ways to do so, if they can deal with the BTC on their end. Canada is quite free financially. I can send cash pretty much wherever, with no legal concerns if it's not funding crime and any investment returns are taxed. The legality on their end is another question, as this article shows.

Dma54rhs 6y ago

Can't speak for Nigerians but Europeans don't have access to ETFs either. There truly is incredible entry barrier to many things if you're not born in a right country.

kilpikaarna 6y ago
Huh? Where is this? I absolutely can put money into ETFs traded on the Frankfurt exchange via my broker.
- Dma54rhs 6y ago
  I was talking about the American market. Unless you're a professional investor you can't touch ETFs if you're an euro.