What is Cryptocurrency? How does it affect global society? Has it been affecting Nigerian society also?
For a better understanding of what cryptocurrency is, I would like to first explain the evolution of money in other for someone new to cryptocurrency to understand it to the brim
There was nothing like money from the beginning. No trades, no exchanging of things, no buy nor sell, no nothing. Gradually, people began to realize that they can't have it all so trade by barter started. If I have yams, and I need oil, I can exchange some of my yams for a jar of oil. That's a form of trade
Later, cowries were discovered by the river banks and it was seen as something precious. So anyone that has it can use it to purchase goods and services. It was used as money
Precious stones like (gold, silver, diamond, and so on) also came into play.
Later, in the 600BC, the first coin was manufactured in LYDIA Europe, (modern-day western Turkey) which was the first money printed
After a while, the Chinese devised a way for the production of paper money in 770BC, and that was how money began to circulate and accepted by other parts of the world. So money was created by some people, and the world adopted it before it became an asset that can be used to buy goods and services
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Cryptocurrency is digital money. It's a digital currency that works on the blockchain. I believe the evolution of money would make us understand that cryptocurrency is also an asset that is used like paper money to buy goods and services. It's is just recently in the list of the money evolution, and it was created in 2013, by Satoshi Nakamoto
But one thing might confuse a newbie. Blockchain.
Blockchain deals with a distributed ledger that eliminates all centralized authorities, like banks, and other financial institutions in other to acquire more privacy, and security. It is a decentralized system that works in a way that data cannot be compromised because multiple eyes are monitoring every transaction, and in this wise, it becomes difficult for anyone to adjust, change, or modify any information or transaction stored
There's no how we can talk about cryptocurrency without explaining the blockchain and how it works because that is what would give us more understanding about cryptocurrency
On every blockchain, there are validators. Every validator has a computer. So, these validators (computers) are in charge of the creation of blocks, and they are all rewarded for each block created
It's just like a competition between several people managing a particular thing, by solving a puzzle. The first person who solves the puzzle becomes the winner at that point and every other participant would verify that the puzzle is right, so there's no way one person can manipulate, because the transaction (puzzle), has passed across multiple computers (millions) and are registered. This makes it difficult for anyone to cheat or adjust. Also, this has bridged the third-party interaction
So cryptocurrency is built on the blockchain and all the benefits associated with the blockchain align with the crypto
There are more than 2,000 cryptocurrencies, just like the way we have different currencies like dollar, Euro, Pounds, Naira, Rupee, and so on. Cryptocurrencies also have different names. Examples are Bitcoin (the first cryptocurrency created), ethereum, Neo, Dodge coin, Dai, Veg, bnb, Hive, Solana, price, and so on. All these coins can be used for transactions (buy, sell, trade), and so on (All done online)
So in a nutshell, cryptocurrency is digital money that is used for transactions like buying goods, paying for services, and doing other things the physical money could do,/div>
How does cryptocurrency affect the global society
The positive effect of cryptocurrency in the global economy
The blockchain elements that made it easy are
peer to peer network which helps to communicate remotely
cryptography, which is the security part. Since anyone can participate in the peer to peer network, there should be security that would allow the verification and the authenticity od messages, because of bad actors that might want to manipulate data.
Concensus algorithm, which is the agreement on the creation of new blocks. Every blockchain have different consensus algorithm used. Like on bitcoin, it's proof of work. Some use proof of stake, proof of brain and so on.
Reward is the last element. When consensus is reached, and new page is added, a reward in coin (cryptocurrency) is given to the person that add a new block of transaction to the blockchain.
But let's take Bitcoin as a case study
In August 2016, bitcoin rose from $572 to $4764 in August 2017 making up 64.01% of the entire value of cryptocurrency. And as at that time, it has more than 7.9 active users, which made it stand as a threat because it has proved that cryptocurrency is capable of transforming the financial system, with the potential to affect the global economy positively
From the looks of things, Financial institutions, governments, and investors started adopting cryptocurrency because of the potential it possesses
Cryptocurrency has affected global society in many ways. It has constituted a lot of chaos and also liberated many people. Different people have different perspectives on cryptocurrency. I have friends that would never want to hear anything about crypto, and there are some that keep disturbing me that they want to learn everything I know about crypto
Some prominent people in the world love crypto, and take it as their god, while some detest it to the fullest. Elon Musk (the CEO of Tesla), and (Bill gate, the co-founder of Microsoft) believe so much in cryptocurrency because they think it would improve the world economy. On the other hand, we have the likes of Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway CEO), and Ajaypal Singh Banga (Once the CEO of MasterCard) from India believed that cryptocurrency would retard the world economy because it's viewed as criminal activities
1. Swif and fast transfer of fund: There is no limit to the amount of cryptocurrency that can be transferred from one person to another unlike the traditional banking system where you would need to fill many forms and answer multiple questions before you can make huge transfer
2. Cost of transfer is very low. The charges on transactions is very low. On polygon, you can transact millions of dollars with fee no up to $1. You can't try that on the traditional banking system. The charges is killing
3. No third party. Every preying eyes is eliminated in cryptocurrency transactions. There's no third party to dictate and give rules on what to do.Individuals are in charge of their finances. No one can control it, except if allowed by the asset owner by giving out the keys.
4. Cryptocurrency has given many companies in the globe to transact internationally in an easy way. And through this, relationship is created and more trust is fostered among the enterprenures in the market.
How cryptocurrency affect the society negatively
1. Scam: One thing that has retarded the growth of cryptocurrency making some government not to adopt it is the level of scam. Hackers are threat to the cryptocurrency space and that's one of the challenges
2. Anonymity: Many people believe that the hidden nature makes it easy for criminals to use the cryptocurrency to perpetrate evil. They can simply create a site and send out phising links. Tracking evil doers on the blockchain is not easy because of the decentralized nature, where there's no KYC
How has cryptocurrency affected my country
Conclusion
I'm a Nigerian, and the truth is cryptocurrency has really affected my country positively. I live in a country where the minimum wages is less than $60, and to have an average meal per day, you will need to spend like $3. It depends on how much you can manage. It's disgusting. Before the salary enters, debts has pilled up. What is spent in a month is more than the salary. That's poverty isn't it. Many people continue to live in debt
This is for the little people that managed to get a job. There are many graduates walking around without employment. I remembered when the president of our country said
"Even if you have the best result in the university, there's no job"
And the country produce hundreds of thousands of graduates yearly. That's crazy, when there's no job
So cryptocurrency has really served as an employment opportunity for many Nigerians. If you check the statistics of the country using crypto in the world, Nigeria happens to be the first with 32% from the interview here
There are many platforms where we (Nigerians) freelance and get crypto as payment. We use our skills to make money without depending on the government for jobs. I think this is the highest level the cryptocurrency has helped the Nigerian youth
Easy transaction within the crypto users on finance p2p has helped us a lot.
When the government realized that many Nigerians are adopting cryptocurrency, they banned it, but still, we are not backing off. The impact of cryptocurrency in this part of the world cannot be quantified. It has helped reduce crime because young graduates can make ends meet. If not, people would go to the street to do all sorts of wrong things to stay solvent in the society
Cryptocurrency has been in existence for some time and the impact it has had on society knows no bound. We cannot wait to see the improvement in the crypto world. I believe that no matter how much the government shies away from the fact, they would later realize that cryptocurrency has come to stay and must be adopted in other to meet up with many things in the world. For India to ask such a question in an exam means they are beginning to understand the importance of cryptocurrency in society and the world at large
Thanks to crypto. It has helped me a lot.
Thanks to @cryptoflow for the #iucontest. I hope the government of our countries sees reasons to unban crypto.
Thanks for reading.
This is ckole the laughing gas.
Posted Using LeoFinance Beta
wow, that was really a great post all the things one post that is really amazing.
lol, I did have the same issue that you are having .
it is really good to know that I did see many users from there some are new and all are really doing great here.
thanks for taking part in the contest.good luck
!giphy good luck
!PIZZA
Via Tenor
Thanks a lot for the feedback. We are strongly doing great in crypto in this part of the world. The federal government banned Twitter in Nigeria, but the ban was lifted just a few days ago. We are looking forward to the unban of crypto. They have no option. They must bow. Thanks once again.
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