There are 1.5 billion smartphones being manufactured every year. It is not going to be long before every one has access to a second hand one. Bitcoin transaction fee is too high but another crypto will come along that will have no fees. IOTA, which is meant for machines, uses a tangle and not a blockchain and has no fees.
Sure, you can have the device but you still need the carrier network, power to charge and knowledge to use. But most importantly you have to have the wealth/money/asset to move in the first place. How many of the "unbankable" have that ? Seems like a cart in frount of the horse situation.
MPESA https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M-Pesa is already big in Kenya so there is demand for financial services from the unbanked.
Right in the wiki link it says "access to formal financial system". I would consider this centralised (Vodacom) not decentralized.
Just because the arguement is old does not make it invalid. Since then depositers have lost money in Cyprus and Greece and it is now EU policy to bail in banks. Why would people keep money in a bank if it is at risk?
The poor won't touch bitscam , they prefer simple Western Union or money Gram over any coin . And how are they going to buy coins anyway if they are unbanked and without cards , maybe they should open account online in bittrex or coinbase , lol.
That is true, but let's not forget about the bear years/months, if we go back in time. And other cryptos have been outperforming or matching BTC specially this year, so that isn't a unique feature. It is also very likely the highest will fall the hardest...
It proves that people from an economically poor country will use financial services on a cellphone. When they get a smartphone and a crypto that is cheaper than mpesa they will use it everywhere in the world.
A cheaper alternative to Western Union is coming, though WU are looking at ripple. Cash for coins simple. Stellar Lumens is designed for low income countries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stellar_(payment_network)
Still missing the point, you need to have something to move before you can move it. economists, diplomats and aid workers agree that some form of centralised, structured economy with a banking system that keeps assets in country to be reinvest/lent is what should be encouraged. Not capital flight. (This is referring to unbankable not war torn, refugee...etc)