The African Bitcoin Conference 2022 (ABC 22) took place from December 5 to December 7 in Ghana, West Africa. It is the first Bitcoin conference of its kind to be hosted on the continent. The conference will include keynotes, fireside talks, panel discussions, presentations, crash courses and Bitcoin-only training workshops. More than 60 speakers are in attendance, including former CEO Jack Dorsey Twitter and chairman Block, Inc.Ray Youssef, CEO of a global peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency exchange Paxfuland Bitcoin payment provider Jack Mallers A blow. The conference attracted bitcoiners, entrepreneurs, educators, investors and industry leaders.
The conference has a hackathon where participants can choose to develop a project based on a specific track.
Three days of bitcoin in Africa
The first day of the conference started with the opening ceremony and welcome speeches by the organizers of ABC 22. Paxful CEO Ray Youssef had a fireside chat moderated by Togolese human rights activist and Bitcoiner Farida Naboureman. 4 panels were organized during the day where such topics were discussed Bitcoin is money, the path to a career in Bitcoin and advancing social justice with Bitcoin, among others, have been discussed in detail.
The first speech on the second day of the conference was given by Professor Nii Quaynor, a Ghanaian professor who Farida Naboureman presented as a powerhouse. maybe One of the greatest scientists of the African continent; A man who greatly contributed to the development of technology and the internet in Africa and is credited with building the first Bitcoin ATM in Ghana.
In his keynote address, Prof Quaynor spoke about the efforts to regulate Bitcoin in Ghana and the initial hurdles. Professor Quaynor mentioned an incident in 2015 where 120 Bitcoin Antminers were purchased for Bitcoin mining. According to him, soon after mining started, Ghana’s Financial Intelligence Center (FIC) expressed concern that the outcome of mining activities could be used to finance terrorism; The FIC has called for the intervention of other regulatory bodies and financial authorities in the country. The professor said he and his team responded by demonstrating and explaining the Bitcoin mining process to regulators and authorities; through the demonstration, the fears and concerns of the authorities at that time were removed.
Prof. quoting statistics indicating the growing interest in blockchain technology shown by financial institutions in Ghana over the years. Quaynor noted that between 2016 and 2020, he and his team held several crypto-centric workshop sessions; most of the participants in this seminar session were from the Bank of Ghana, the country’s central bank. The professor urged ABC 22 attendees to reach out to regulators and policymakers in their various jurisdictions so the crypto community can learn what concerns or concerns regulators may have.
Jack Mallers, founder A blow, made the second keynote speech of the day. In his address, he explains the concept of payment rails, highlights the challenges faced in cross-border payments due to differences in currency and payment systems; he called cross-border payments a moment “Unsolved problem.” Jack Mallers stated that the impact of this difference in currency and payments is huge in developing markets like Africa. He referred to the current cross-border payment bottleneck in Africa; the continent has 54 currencies and 41 central banks, resulting in more than 80% of cross-border payment transactions going offshore for clearing and settlement. This then leads to delays in finalizing the transaction and high cost of transaction processing. Some payment processing companies have been forced to shut down operations in many countries on the continent, while businesses such as airlines have been stranded on the continent due to a shortage of dollars needed for international clearing and settlements.
Jack Dorsey sat down with Farida Nabourema for his first fireside chat of the day. Giving a brief history of how he became interested in distributed ledger technology, ex Twitter The CEO thanked the open source community for their goodwill in making the work free and open to software development. Bitcoin is built on the principle of open source. Jack, whose company Block Inc. Focused on building payment apps and services, including apps and services that make it easier to access Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies, it says the goal is to help the internet realize a local currency — an open monetary protocol that anyone can see, trust, and is government-free. or corporate control. Block Inc. contributed to a funding round for an African Bitcoin mining company called Torsless.
The second day of the conference continued with more keynote speeches, fireworks talks and panel discussions. Discussion topics include The Power of the Lightning Network in the Face of Climate Change, Traditional Payment Systems Powered by Bitcoin, and Bitcoin Miningamong others.
The third, final day of the Africa Bitcoin Conference is underway. The conference opened this morning with a welcome speech and announcements. As in the previous days of the conference, there are keynote speeches and fireworks talks. The topic was discussed in the first panel of the day: Is Bitcoin a Threat to Central Banks?
The second panel on the topic: Tackling gender inequality in the ecosystem. There are a total of five discussion panels throughout the day. The final event will be the Hackathon Awards Ceremony followed by the closing speech.
The Future of Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology in Africa
The cryptocurrency market and adoption of cryptocurrencies is growing rapidly in Africa. Despite the lack of regulatory clarity in many countries on the continent and some governments warning banks against handling funds associated with crypto-related transactions, the continent’s people (especially the young population) have continued to explore and embrace digital assets. The continent has high remittance flows; cryptocurrencies have created a faster, cheaper and more reliable means of cross-border settlement, making it perfect for receiving foreign money transfers.
Nigerian citizens and residents have turned to peer-to-peer (p2p) trading platforms despite Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policies making it difficult to buy and sell cryptocurrencies in the country. mass, keeping the crypto-currency flame alive and making Nigeria one of the countries with the highest p2p trading volume.
Recently Bank for International Settlements (BIS) The survey found that most of the continent’s central banks are exploring the use of distributed ledger technology to build payment systems.
Confidence in cryptocurrency remains largely unshakable in developed, developing and underdeveloped countries and regions alike.
To learn more about Bitcoin, visit the Investing in Bitcoin guide.