Thursday 30 March 2017

Cryptocurrency News – Banking the Unbanked

Of the world population of 7.4 billion, 2.5 billion – roughly a third – do not have access to the formal banking system.

It is not because they do not have any money with them to store in a bank. It is because there are no banks nearby. This happens because of the terrain and the low size of the local population. To major banks, there just isn’t enough ‘business’ to consider opening a branch in the area. After all, they need to make an operating profit so that they can pay the rent, staff salaries, and utility bills.

Cut off from the world, people use mobile money. They have phones, and operators make this possible. But mobile network operators also need to make a profit to keep the service running. They levy fees or transaction charges. This results in a lot of money going ‘down the drain’.

Consider Africa, for instance. There are a lot of people working abroad that send money to their families. Banks and forex traders like Western Union levy charges for the transfer. It reaches the recipient, but not physically. Because banks are a rarity in the villages (a lot of Africa is still rural), the money is transferred into a mobile-money account. The mobile network operator deducts its own charges, and only what is left makes its way to the recipient.

In such areas, the overall fees that were deducted mean a lot.

All these charges/fees can be prevented by using cryptocurrency. In fact, an experiment is already underway to eliminate the need for forex charges. Bitcoin is the digital currency that is used for the purpose, and it has already been successful. A Kenyan working in Egpyt can send bitcoins to his family. There is no need to convert Egyptian pounds to Kenyan shillings and lose money in the process. The family receives the bitcoins and they use it for making purchases in Kenya. Traders too use bitcoins to pay for supplies.

There is still the operator-levied charge, but that can be eliminated by using third-party applications independent of the network operator. This is all set to be implemented in the next phase of the project.

The problem with Bitcoin

Bitcoin is the world’s most popular form of virtual currency. That also makes it the most hacked.
In fact, people routinely use Ethereum as a hedge against the loss of their bitcoins.

The alternative to Bitcoin

YoCoin, a new cryptocurrency with a lesser number of users worldwide, is the safer option. It runs on the same blockchain technology that powers Bitcoin, so technically there is no difference.

This Bitcoin alternative, by virtue of it being safer, has the power to change millions of lives across the world. Early adoption rates are already encouraging. The price of each YoCoin (against the U.S. dollar) has risen by 31% ever since it came into being. How is this relevant? The YoCoin price has increased because of demand. Supply remains the same. It is tied to the gold standard, so there are only a finite number of YoCoins. This is determined by the size of YoVentures’ gold reserves. 

YoCoin, as a virtual currency, is more stable and fundamentally sound than Bitcoin.


Want to know more what is YouCoin?
Visit Website: https://yocoin.org

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