THELOGICALINDIAN - Wespoke with Ted Owusu Duodu CEO of PMCedis Capital a aggregation based in Ghana to altercate the clamorous demandfor bitcoin in the country
Also read: Barclays: ‘Blockchain Could Be the Most Significant Innovation to Impact Africa in 100 years’
Ghana: #1 in Bitcoin Interest
Many Bitcoin experts and entrepreneurs are abnormally aflame about Bitcoin’s use-case for remittances and cross-border affairs in developing countries. This is decidedly accurate for many countries in Africa, area companies such as BitPesa in Kenya, are demography the money alteration bazaar by storm. Local Bitcoin startups are demography advantage of the aerial transaction fees imposed by companies such as Western Union and are alms the accessible a abundant cheaper way to accept and accelerate money abroad.
If you accept taken a attending at the Google Trends for the appellation “Bitcoin” in contempo times, you may accept noticed that absorption in the African country of Ghana is through the roof — yes, it’s ranked at cardinal one in the apple at 100% interest. At the contempo Blockchain Conference in Moscow, Bitcoin.com bent up with Ted Owusu Duodu, the CEO of PMCedis Capital, a aggregation based in Accra, Ghana, alms agenda bill barter services, to altercate whether the appeal for bitcoin in the country is, in fact, for real.
Bitcoin.com (BC): How would you appraise the appeal for bitcoin in Ghana in accepted appropriate now?
Ted Owusu Duodo (TD): The appeal for bitcoin in Ghana is actual high. But, in general, actual few bodies apperceive about Bitcoin. The bodies who are into it are mostly the adolescence and amid them, the appeal is very, actual high.
BC: How abounding bodies accept smartphones in the country?
TD: Most bodies in Ghana accept smartphones. A lot of them alike accept added than one.
BC: So the aggregate of smartphones and Bitcoin technology enables the bodies in Ghana to accept admission to the all-around economy, which is article they can’t do with their bounded currency?
TD: Exactly. One added affair that gets bodies complex is that it makes affairs actual fast. And, in Ghana, bitcoin is admired college than our bounded currency. So what happens is that bodies abundance bitcoins for maybe two months, three months on the exchanges. Then it appreciates and bodies change it to the bounded currency.
BC: So it’s not alone acclimated as a agency of barter but as a abundance of amount to barrier adjoin the animation of the Ghanaian Cedi?
TD: Very good, and our aggregation PMCedi exchanges bitcoins and added authorization currencies. We additionally barter added crypto currencies such as Perfect Money and Litecoin.
BC: So you’re actuality at this appointment to access added cryptocurrency due to the appeal in Ghana?
TD: That is it, and additionally to apperceive added about Bitcoin and the blockchain in general.
BC: What is the Bitcoin startup arena like over there appropriate now? Are you part of a beyond accumulation of companies alive to advance the bounded agenda bill basement there?
TD: Yes, there are a lot of them, but best accord in retail. I apply on broad and distribution.
BC: Are there a lot merchants there accepting bitcoin?
TD: Yes, in agreement of bitcoin merchants, acceptation they accept bitcoins and they advertise them to the people as a business. But as far as merchants affairs appurtenances for bitcoin and accepting as a approach acquittal in Ghana, no, because approved food do not apperceive about it. See, nowadays, we apperceive of bodies who accelerate money cross-border to banks over there and it is actual expensive.
BC: Remittances…
TD: Remittances, yea you get it. But if you apperceive that Bitcoin can do bigger than coffer alteration and added uses, again I anticipate added bodies will go into Bitcoin.
BC: Is is communicable on quicker in the rural areas or the burghal or both?
TD: When you say Ghana, you appetite to say Accra. That’s the basic city, the capital. But I can calculation about four basic rural areas in Ghana that are added into Bitcoin than the added actual areas.
BC: What Bitcoin use-cases do you anticipate will drive acceptance in Ghana? Store of value, agency of exchange, remittances etc.
TD: I anticipate it’s everything. When it’s acceptance increases, added bodies will dive into it and acquire it. The adolescence is so abundant into Bitcoin. Before, what we acclimated was Perfect Money. It is still there but it is no best as accepted as Bitcoin.
Do you anticipate Ghana will become Africa’s Bitcoin hub? Let us apperceive your thoughts in the comments area below!
Images address of pmcedi.com, ghanaflag.facts.co, eastwestafrica.wordpress.com
