Bitcoin is more popular than banks in Africa

According to the latest news from foreign media, Botswana, a landlocked country in southern Africa, recently welcomed its first Bitcoin ATM (Skyhook model). Initially, this ATM was owned by the Taurus Bitcoin exchange, but due to the relatively long processing time, it failed to gain a foothold in the Canadian market, and later decided to donate it to Africa.

Skyhook’s machines are open source, have native currency firmware already created, and are easy to install. The only downside is that Skyhook’s machines can only sell Bitcoins but not buy them.

Skyhook is not the first Bitcoin ATM in Africa. The first and second are in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively. Lamassu-type Bitcoin ATMs are more suitable for developed regions, but are not conducive to the majority of unbanked users living in Africa.

Data shows that due to technical and security factors, up to 70% of the people in some parts of Africa do not have bank accounts, and the unrest in Africa makes legal currency appear very vulnerable. Therefore, Bitcoin has always been considered the most suitable legal currency alternative for development on the African continent.

Regarding the current development of Bitcoin in Africa, Du Jun, co-founder of Huobi.com, China's largest Bitcoin trading platform, said that Bitcoin has been regarded as a good third-party payment channel for its efficiency, convenience, security and low cost since its birth. Due to the existence of various unstable factors, the penetration rate of banking services in Africa is low, and the maintenance costs and risks are too high. In this extreme case, the decentralized advantages of Bitcoin are undoubtedly highlighted. Bitcoin can provide timely solutions for cross-border payments, remittances, online payments and even B2B payments in Africa. Bitcoin's technical advantages determine that Bitcoin can play a big role in special regions.

It is reported that the process of getting Botswana's first Bitcoin ATM was very costly in terms of manpower and financial resources. However, this feat has been made possible with the help of many parties. Members of the Bitcoin Cooperative donated generously, and the Bitcoin community was also very supportive of the relevant work.