Chris Curl,
Editor
May 3, 2022
Rumors were recently swirling that another nation had adopted Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender.
Almost everyone is familiar with Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, who issued a Bitcoin bond and declared it an official currency last year.
He has since received an almost endless barrage of negative press from mainstream news outlets who have labeled his Bitcoin experiment a failing gamble. It’s far too early to make that judgment and I suspect there are forces at work in the world who do not like to see developing countries break free from the international banking system.
But I digress.
It turns out that the rumors were true, and the Central African Republic officially passed legislation becoming the second country to adopt Bitcoin as currency. They currently rely on the Central African franc (CFA) — a currency that is controlled by the Bank of Central African States (BEAC).
It’s a central bank fiat currency controlled by France. And over the past year its value has been steadily dropping. Many view it as a relic from Africa’s colonial past that is greatly limiting economic development on the continent.
The Central African Republic is a small sub-Saharan country of under five million people. Its poverty rate is high and most of its economy relies on mining. In fact, it’s rich with gold and diamonds. But sectarian and political violence have wreaked havoc on the fledgling state over the last decade.
Many developing countries are eyeing Bitcoin as a life raft for inflation and failing fiat currencies.
In fact, according to one survey, Nigeria has the highest rate of crypto adoption in the world — with over 24% of the online population owning cryptocurrency. This is in contrast to Great Britain where just 5.4% surveyed reported owning crypto.
Cryptocurrency is so popular in Nigeria that their central bank ordered a ban on crypto transactions last year. But the people of Nigeria have found ways to work around this. In the last year, Nigeria’s official currency — the Naira — has become weaker and more Nigerians are using crypto than ever. In fact, Nigeria suffered from 16% inflation in 2021.
In an attempt to manage inflation and placate its citizenry, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched its own central bank digital currency (CBDC) — the eNaira. With it, they hope to control the inflow of foreign currency to prevent increases in prices.
The eNaira utilizes the eNaira Speed Wallet, which can be downloaded from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. This wallet allows you to receive deposits of eNaira, which is pegged 1:1 to the Naira. It allows you to pay merchants and send and receive the digital currency instantly. This has the potential to give unbanked people in Nigeria a way to easily transact using blockchain technology.
We can see the current trend toward digital currencies advancing rapidly in the developing world as people and governments seek to escape inflation and provide financial services to people who don’t have bank accounts.
Even the US and other developed countries are actively exploring CBDCs.
This trend will only accelerate as the world becomes more and more digitized.
In Crypto Cycle, I’m exploring ways to profit from this emerging trend. Not only with coins and tokens but with NFTs as well.
I’ve been touting Solana NFTs, for example, since the first few issues. And Solana NFTs recently took the highest-priced spots on OpenSea, displacing Ethereum-based NFTs.
We’re putting real money to work in the Crypto Cycle portfolio while keeping members informed about this fast-evolving new market.
You can join us here.
Chris Curl
Editor, Daily Profit Cycle