How African refugees used bitcoin to build their own basic economy – TechCrunch

[ad_1]

When hundreds of thousands of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) fled their homes after the Mount Nyiragongo volcano erupted on May 22, a blogger and a young restaurant worker teamed up in the town of Goma and used bitcoin to help displaced families.

Chainglob crypto news founder Gloire Wanzavalere visited the makeshift refugee camp that sprang up almost overnight, offering to donate bitcoins to displaced families.

He recruited through word of mouth, asking people if they knew anyone who lost their home. But he quickly found out that most families had already traded their phones for food. They also left most of their belongings behind and therefore did not have the necessary documents to open new bank accounts or acquire new devices.

“These people have lost everything. I understood that it was rational for them to sell what they had left to buy food, ”said Wanzavalere. “So we bought phones for eight people… 12 people benefited from our initiative, four of them already had their own smartphones.

Wanzavalere was inspired by the online news from the Bitcoin Beach project in El Salvador, which he said proved poor people can still use Bitcoin despite technical challenges and volatility.

“Coming to their aid with bitcoin was more powerful an act than any marketing campaign could be. That’s when we were like, okay, we’re going to do it in Congo, ”the crypto-focused blogger said.

They started with a little circular workflow. Wanzavalere’s mother owns a small store in town that sells basic hygiene products and non-perishable items. She agreed to accept bitcoin using her cell phone, relying on apps like Wallet of Satoshi and Phoenix Wallet.

“Because she is so excited to help people with bitcoin, she is considering the possibility of bringing some essential goods closer to the refugees, so that they can buy what they need without going too far into town. But it’s a complex issue in part because of security concerns, ”Wanzavalere said.

Meanwhile, Juvin Kombi, who works at Jikofood restaurant, was busy setting up his company’s first Lightning Network node last summer. This allowed the restaurant to accept bitcoin payments without high transaction fees or long confirmation times. By September they were up and running, using the restaurant’s PC and sometimes their own personal smartphones when needed. Their favorite mobile wallet apps are Muun Wallet and Blue Wallet.

“The learning process has been very long, but the minimum amount of research we have done has helped us understand bitcoin without any support,” Kombi said. “We realized that it was easy to set up. A simple wallet and an internet connection are sufficient. In addition, we are studying the possibility of setting up BTCPay Server in the near future.

So far, only a few restaurant patrons use bitcoin, Kombi added, including the displaced people Wanzavalere has hired. However, they are hoping that as more people in the community learn about bitcoin, this payment option will set the small restaurant apart from the local competition. The restaurant often holds educational workshops for customers who want to learn more about the use of bitcoin.

Wanzavalere said he can relate to Kombi’s statement that bitcoin education takes a long time. Wanzavalere first discovered bitcoin after being scammed online in 2017. This prompted him to do more research on digital assets and start his own local crypto news blog. Hiring locally and paying in bitcoin makes sense as an altruistic marketing strategy.

“The Congolese population suffers enormously; it has never had a stable currency except the US dollar, ”Wanzavalere said. “I am not a journalist. However, I started writing about the bitcoin issues in Africa because there was a lack of information on the subject in French.

In the meantime, he has raised money for this local program by inviting international bitcoin fans to participate in a “Lightning Torch”. First, he tweeted that anyone could join The Torch, a Lightning Network transaction chain created by strangers sharing a bill and sending small amounts of bitcoin to pay it to the next bill holder, like pass a witness in a relay race. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was among the attendees.

“A total of 18 people contributed. Then all of the funds were sent to me for distribution to the beneficiaries, ”Wanzavalere said. “In less than three hours, all of the recipients had mastered it, learning how to receive and send money using a bitcoin wallet, which shows that in practice the Lightning Network is not so complicated to use. “

Then, Wanzavalere added, he plans to teach grantees how to manage a node, like Jikofood Restaurant does, in case they want to help grow the local bitcoin economy to include more small businesses that fully control their own funds. . He can also hire some of the beneficiaries to work for his crypto blog.

“We plan to raise more money to help an even larger part of the suffering population,” Wanzavalere concluded. “The money raised by the torch event was meant to be distributed with nothing in return. However, this is a long term idea. Paying refugees bitcoin for self-employment could be a source of increased community engagement.

Editor’s note: French translation by @ vallard14

[ad_2]