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Topic: Bitcoin in Somalia ? - page 2. (Read 2836 times)

member
Activity: 84
Merit: 10
August 08, 2013, 04:55:26 PM
#5
and where do they keep theyre bitcoins? On a stone?
legendary
Activity: 1526
Merit: 1134
August 08, 2013, 04:48:36 PM
#4
Africa isn't one country that's all the same, you know. Kenya and Somalia are worlds apart. Kenya is poor but is basically a functioning country with the sorts of modern services you'd expect. Somalia is hardly a country at all, it's more of a gap between Ethiopia and the sea that has been ravaged by war -- and now financial sanctions, even though it's "accidental".
legendary
Activity: 1862
Merit: 1114
WalletScrutiny.com
August 08, 2013, 02:58:25 PM
#3
Hajahahahahaha! Hilarious!

Hmmm. Bitcoin in a country with almost zero infrastructure and nearly no Internet connectivity. I'm sure people will fight over themselves to sign up. Oh wait, they don't need to have computers, they could just do bitcoin over their mobile phones? Have a wildly fluctuating currency on an easily stolen cell phone?

Somalias got issues. Bitcoin isn't going to solve them. Once they do solve their greater issues, if banks still want nothing to do with them, bitcoin might be good as a substitute for remittances. But right now? You send BTC to a Somali, they sell them on mtgox and have no bank account to transfer to, and even if they did, Goxs' bank will surely refuse to send there.

I know a lot of people want bitcoin to supplant every other currency. Who knows, in the first world where everything is already electronic, maybe it or its offspring could one day. But it's a luxury. If you don't have the basics, its not nearly as applicable.

Safaricom managed to turn cellphone minutes into money in Kenya. Why do you think there isn't a chance Somalis turn Bitcoin into money?
hero member
Activity: 644
Merit: 500
August 08, 2013, 02:28:29 PM
#2
Hajahahahahaha! Hilarious!

Hmmm. Bitcoin in a country with almost zero infrastructure and nearly no Internet connectivity. I'm sure people will fight over themselves to sign up. Oh wait, they don't need to have computers, they could just do bitcoin over their mobile phones? Have a wildly fluctuating currency on an easily stolen cell phone?

Somalias got issues. Bitcoin isn't going to solve them. Once they do solve their greater issues, if banks still want nothing to do with them, bitcoin might be good as a substitute for remittances. But right now? You send BTC to a Somali, they sell them on mtgox and have no bank account to transfer to, and even if they did, Goxs' bank will surely refuse to send there.

I know a lot of people want bitcoin to supplant every other currency. Who knows, in the first world where everything is already electronic, maybe it or its offspring could one day. But it's a luxury. If you don't have the basics, its not nearly as applicable.
sr. member
Activity: 332
Merit: 253
August 08, 2013, 12:05:32 PM
#1
Just heard about this on NPR last night, as also reported in the Guardian (http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/aug/07/somalis-money-transfers-barclays-lifeline)

Evidently new money transmission regulations in the UK are a serious problem for Somalis trying to get funds back home.

Sounds like a possible opportunity for bitcoin !

What is the state of BTC in Somalia?
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