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How Crypto Currency Has Changed the Landscape of Technology Globally

It wasn’t so long ago that the first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin made its way into our consciousness becoming by far the most revolutionary digital innovation in the 21st century. The digital coin, created under the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, was launched in 2009 as a reaction to the 2008 financial crisis that caused a recession. 

Since its inception, its (Bitcoin) price has swung from a lowly $0.0008 to a massive high of over $60,000 in 2021. To put in a mind-blowing context, if you bought 100 Bitcoins in 2010 which was worth a paltry 8 cents then and kept it till now, that Bitcoin will be worth a whopping $4.7 million! Such massive returns within a very short period are almost impossible with conventional investment

READ: 11 Cryptocurrency Acronyms And Terminologies You Must Know In 2022

What Is Cryptocurrency

As earlier stated, the epic financial crash in 2008 has pushed folks to sort for other less controlled financial options which inevitably heralded the era of cryptocurrency. The idea behind cryptocurrency is to create a decentralised system (completely independent of centralised organisations like banks and government) for financial transactions using digital currencies. Over the years, there has been an explosion of digital currencies with different use cases       

Before Bitcoin, there had been previous attempts at creating decentralised digital currencies with ledgers secured by encryption. For example, B-Money and Bit Gold were formulated but never fully developed.

Global Cryptocurrency Ownership

At the end of 2021, cryptocurrency users across the world grew to almost 300 million. If crypto users were a country, it will be the 4th most populated country in the world behind China, India and USA. The global user base of crypto has massively increased by nearly %58000 between 2016 and 2021. It is expected that the total users could explode to 1 billion by the end of 2022 based on projections.

These numbers show the increasing adoption of cryptocurrency for payment transactions and investment purposes over conventional payment methods. It also shows the middle finger given by people to the financial establishment.

Top Cryptocurrency Countries

India has the highest number of cryptocurrency users in the world. The South-East Asian country has more than 100 million users – 33% of the total global users – at the moment. This is followed by the USA, Russia, Nigeria and Brazil with 27 million, 17 million, 13 million and 10 million users respectively according to data made available by Triple-A, a cryptocurrency payment platform based in Singapore.

The data also reported the countries with the highest percentage of users per population. The number country on the list is Ukraine with 12.73% users followed by Russia, Kenya, USA and India with 11.91%, 8.52%, 8,31% and 7.3% user base respectively.

The ease and  

African Cryptocurrency Users

The continent of Africa has seen the most adoption of crypto among developing countries across the world. The continent has seen a 1200%  ($105 billion in market value) increase in cryptocurrency payments from 2020 to 2021. This is not unexpected as Africans daily seek alternate means to bypass the ubiquitous and expensive traditional banking services. 

The cost of remittances to Africa remains the highest in the world. It cost about $18 for an African living abroad to send $200, about 9% on average. The cost within Africa is higher, going up as much as 20%.  Thanks to Crypto, Africans have found cheaper and faster means to send money to their loved ones. Remittance has been the rocket that has propelled the growth of cryptocurrency in Africa.

Another reason Africans have embraced cryptocurrency is the unavailability of foreign exchange to merchants who do business with their foreign counterparts. The forex crunch experienced by some African countries like Nigeria has driven merchants to source them elsewhere prompting them to create accounts on peer 2 peer crypto platforms like Paxful, Remitano and Binance.

The rate of cryptocurrency adoption is expected to be sustained despite the restrictions placed by some African governments. Talking about government restriction on crypto…

Cryptocurrency User vs Central Banks

The reaction of some African governments toward the explosive growth of cryptocurrency in their backyard has been nothing but hostile. Early last year, the central bank Governor of Nigeria, Africa’s biggest crypto market by size, restricted the use of crypto by ordering financial institutions from facilitating cryptocurrency transactions in the country. 

This hasn’t deterred die-hard crypto users as the rate of adoption rose by 10% points to 42% by the end of 2021 effectively rendering the restriction impotent.

Other countries where crypto has been restricted or fully banned are Algeria (complete ban), Bangladesh, (complete ban), Egypt (partial ban), Bolivia (complete ban), China (complete ban), Columbia (partial ban), Iran (partial ban), Indonesia (complete ban), India (complete ban), Iraq (partial ban), Russia (partial ban), Turkey (complete ban) and Vietnam (partial ban).   

Big Companies Jumping on the Cryptocurrency Wagon

With over 300 million cryptocurrency users around the world, it’s no surprise big companies across industries from -Big tech to Insurance – are joining the revolution by adopting digital currencies like Bitcoin as a payment method. Even modest companies aren’t been left out in the revolution. According to a 2020 study by HSB, a cyber insurance and inspection company, 36% of small and medium businesses accept cryptocurrency payments.

PayPal users in the US can now buy, sell or hold a select few cryptos, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash and Litecoin. They can also pay with any of these aforementioned cryptocurrencies on the Fintech platform. On Amazon, you can buy vouchers with crypto through a cryptocurrency exchange. Tech giant, Microsoft accepts Bitcoin for its Xbox store credit. Credit companies like Visa and Mastercard recently announced deals with cryptocurrency giants Crypto.com and Coinbase. Social microblogging platform, Twitter allows its users to be tipped in Bitcoin.

Other companies that have adopted the use of cryptocurrency as a form of payment include Tesla (they recently stopped accepting bitcoin as a method of payment), Starbucks, AT&T, AXA Insurance, Expedia, KFC, Twitch, Wikipedia, Travala, Dallas Mavericks, Burger King and so much more. Even countries are getting in the groove as well with El Salvador becoming the first country ever to unprecedentedly make Bitcoin the official legal tender.

This level of acceptance by these companies across all industries has shown how cryptocurrency has evolved over the last two decades.   

The Future of Cryptocurrency

With innovative concepts like Metaverse and Web 3.0 set to dominate the cryptocurrency space, the future of cryptocurrency is as bright as the desert sun. The market valuation is expected to double by 2030. 

One of the driving forces for the crypto market at the moment is the exciting virtual collections of digital arts known as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). The NFT market has seen astronomical growth in the past two years as the total value exchange peaked at almost $25 billion at the end of 2021. This growth is now inching closer in value to the traditional art market.

Another driving force is decentralised Finance (Defi) which has disrupted the entire centralised financial system operated by banks, Insurance companies and the government. These financial operations include earning interest, borrowing, lending, buying insurance, trading derivatives, trading assets, and so much more. 

DeFi typically uses smart contracts which are automated enforceable agreements that do not need intermediaries to execute and can be accessed by anyone with an internet connection.

Examples of some of these DeFi projects that have sprung up in the last few years include Aave, Fantom, PancakeSwap, MakerDAO and Compound.

Conclusion

This is the right time for you to take advantage of the innovations happening in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space by adopting some of the solutions that will digitally transform your business in more ways than one.

7 Min. Read//by
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Helpful Remote Work Structure in 2021 and Beyond

Today, the world has, and is still experiencing some distinct challenges stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for business leaders and everyday employees. Whilst many businesses have been fortunate enough to weather the worst economic effects, one key issue remains the successful transition from an in-person workplace to remote operations.

Businesses that have only functioned within traditional offices may well have effective working practices in place, but this doesn’t always necessarily translate to keeping your team tight and productive when forced to move outside of the working environment your practices have been designed for. As a result, some previously successful businesses have found themselves on the back foot with a little struggle.

Let us examine the importance of structure to remote work and its positive impact. We will also look at some of the tech tools that can prove vital to supporting your structure in an increasingly digital-reliant workspace.

Why is structure important?

Any business leader knows that organization can mean the difference between success and failure. As the structures within the office are unlikely to be easily duplicated outside of it, the change to remote practices without a new structure in place can very quickly lead to chaos. In many ways, your staff rely on the structure of your business. Structure helps set the expectations for task completion, operational stability, and the culture of the business itself. Interrupt essential components of that structure, and there can be domino effects across all areas which is why creating a business continuity plan is so vital.

When an issue such as the current pandemic occurs, forcing a shift in operations, a continuity plan provides a road map to ensure the smooth transition to a remote working structure. Your plan minimizes unnecessary disruption for both customers and staff.

How can you create a remote structure?

We know that structure is important, but how can we go about creating it? Obviously, there will be nuances for each business, but there are some core areas on which you should be focusing.

These should include:

1. Workflow

Create a formal structure for how employees’ day-to-day workflow should look in remote circumstances. Clarify how this differs from usual processes, and why. Produce a step-by-step documented approach that makes it clear who is responsible for each aspect of a project, and set out a clear chain of production.

2. Communication

Away from the office, communication can be one of the elements that very quickly fall by the wayside. This can be disastrous. Clear remote communications policies should therefore be implemented. Adopt secure video conferencing solutions that are easily compatible with calendars and scheduling applications and ensure regular team meetings with staff. This structure should include adherence to a single, secure communications platform — this not only helps to keep important business data safe, but it also promotes consistency.

3. Trust

The structure for remote operations certainly needs to include robust and consistent elements. However, micromanaging can be destructive. Leave room in your structure for staff to have some flexibility — perhaps in their working hours or setting priorities. Being constantly monitored is not practical for management, and it gives employees the impression they’re not trusted. Provide them with the remote tools they need and let them work. However, part of your structure should also include regular reviews to assess how successful this is for each employee.

4. What tools can help?

The key is to choose tools that best suit your workflow, the assets you will be producing, and the needs of your staff. Part of your remote structure should include clarity on whom these tasks should be delegated to, and what tools to deploy to ease staff workload. For example, Microsoft Teams, Gmail, M365 etcetera.

Conclusion

Structure is a vital component of any business, but an unexpected shift to remote operations can make traditional office organization impractical. That’s where Descasio comes in. We are your plug to help with the heavy lifting – understand potential challenges your staff could face working from home, and then equip you with tools that automate tasks while building you a structure to meet the business and employee needs in the middle. Contact us today.

4 Min. Read//by

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