Like the author I also have my reservations about how solid bitcoin is, but regarding what such a currency would do for emerging economies I totally agree with

Like the author I also have my reservations about how solid bitcoin is, but regarding what such a currency would do for emerging economies I totally agree with his article. From personal experience, the situation here (in Peru) like in most countries in South America is a milder version of what he describes in Africa where if you belong to the top tier of society, it is not that hard to get a credit card, but it is a big problem to get veted to collect payments. If you don't belong to that top tier, then you can hardly participate of it. (Banking use in Peru is 30%, cell phones 70+%) While bitcoin would incredibly accelerate development of the economy, banks would not be happy at all of loosing control over a very profitable market and government would have a heart attack over tax revenue, money laundering and such.