You make valid points. Although given that people can currently get stablecoins using crypto exchanges then you'll just have a situation where trade and transactions are happening in the blockchain without any visibility by the government.
Thanks for this article ! In my opinion the big blockers for adoption are the governement and the bank lobbies. I am skeptical for following reasons:
- Stablecoin with FX settled on the blockchain is effectively a black market on steroids (from the government standpoint). Most African central banks intervene regularly to defend their exchange rate and can even fix its boundaries. Stablecoins are too liberal for them and would effectively float the currency in a venue the government cannot control.
- Banks make a big chunk of their profits from charging a high rent on basic services. Exchange rates are part of it. They have little economic incentive to help with stablecoins that would eat those profits (even if it benefits the economy as a whole)
In the example you cited of the huge cash transaction in Uganda, does tax avoidance (buyer only accepting cash) play a role ?
Thanks for writing this! Your point about adoption issues due to the language being used is very valid. I've seen companies have more success abstracting the "on-chain" vocabulary and just focusing on what customers want to achieve.
You are right. E-money is a lot like stablecoins. This means it shouldn't be hard for our regulators who are used to mobile money to come up with stablecoin regulation.
You make valid points. Although given that people can currently get stablecoins using crypto exchanges then you'll just have a situation where trade and transactions are happening in the blockchain without any visibility by the government.
Insightful piece as always. With regards to educating the market, are there companies you've seen who did this excellently?
I haven't seen any actually. Maybe Yellow Card is doing the best job of all of them.
Thanks for this article ! In my opinion the big blockers for adoption are the governement and the bank lobbies. I am skeptical for following reasons:
- Stablecoin with FX settled on the blockchain is effectively a black market on steroids (from the government standpoint). Most African central banks intervene regularly to defend their exchange rate and can even fix its boundaries. Stablecoins are too liberal for them and would effectively float the currency in a venue the government cannot control.
- Banks make a big chunk of their profits from charging a high rent on basic services. Exchange rates are part of it. They have little economic incentive to help with stablecoins that would eat those profits (even if it benefits the economy as a whole)
In the example you cited of the huge cash transaction in Uganda, does tax avoidance (buyer only accepting cash) play a role ?
Thanks for writing this! Your point about adoption issues due to the language being used is very valid. I've seen companies have more success abstracting the "on-chain" vocabulary and just focusing on what customers want to achieve.
Yep. Sales is an area of Fintech that needs a lot of work. I think I should dedicate an article to this.
You are right. E-money is a lot like stablecoins. This means it shouldn't be hard for our regulators who are used to mobile money to come up with stablecoin regulation.
Yes in principle, they're the same. The only challenge is currency.