THE KING IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE KING.
“A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere as long as it stays inside the maze.” – The Handmaid’s Tale. On 14th September 1966, the Kenya Shilling fiat currency (KES) was created. Fiat is a Latin word meaning “let it be done.” Transparency is not a noun that can be used to describe anything when it comes to the Government of Kenya and money. On 9th January 2009, Satoshi Nakamoto through physics and mathematics gave the world Gold 2.0 the best store of value (SoV), Bitcoin. As a decentralized ledger available for anyone to verify all transactions with a fixed supply of 21,000,000 Bitcoin is transparent to all yet offering privacy to the individual user.
Bitcoin is about an individual taking personal charge of their finances by opting out of the legacy financial system. Kenya inherited the fiat currency system from our British colonial masters and our friends from the east will soon be knocking with their Digital Yuan, Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) which we must bend the knee as we are in debt. As a Kenyan citizen you have 2 options: Rely on a government which loses 2,000,000,000 KES in tax daily to corruption, gives councilors car grants during a epidemic while getting vaccines and aid or save Thyself.
UPSIDE
Kenyans have their pulse on global trends especially through social media. With Bitcoin enjoying adoption and support globally from: Angel investors, athletes, billionaires, corporations, entrepreneurs, founders, human rights activist etc. it is impossible to imagine them not being inclined to take notice of what these brilliant individuals are communicating and do their own research.
Bitcoin is the best performing asset of all time. This is a life changing opportunity that will most definitely have Kenyans wade through hell or high waters to get a piece of the action in one way or the other.
The youth in Africa make up the largest segment of the population and unemployment ravages them, Kenya being no exception. The new normal has expedited the move online in all sectors. Gainful employment via remote work opportunities and self-employment avenues in the Bitcoin echo system currently available will remedy this to a great extent sustainably.
Most Kenyans have not had the opportunity to obtain an ivy league education let alone have dual degrees as Michael Saylor, CEO and Founder Micro Strategy. This is not a barrier to entry, if anything he has made it possible through the Saylor Academy to get free education to stake your claim in Bitcoin and Blockchain technology.
THE GOVERNMENT CAN NOT DEMONITIZE BITCOIN
In 1994 the 1,000 KES note was introduced printed in Nairobi by the British security printer De La Rue but on 1st October 2019 the same note was declared worthless apparently due to money laundering, counterfeits and corruption. The jury is out on the first two however, corruption is alive and thriving especially during the pandemic with even outright theft of foreign aid.
Bitcoin is not subject to any changes by the whims of who holds power in any government worldwide. They cannot manipulate or demonetize Bitcoin as it is a decentralized ledger and even a 51% attack is well beyond their capability even if they can print KES at will.
YOUR KES IS NOT SAFE
If messages, photos and videos made millions migrate from WhatsApp to Signal App, how much faster should you move from KES which is devalued by inflation slow but steadily. This 3rd world fiat currency backed by a dollar also backed by faith of a deteriorating world power is not a good store of value.
A fiat currency deposit to a bank is an unsecured loan to a bank with no guarantee of you getting your cash back. Unlike most opaque Central Banks not just in Africa but globally, The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has taken the liberty to educate their citizenry of this fact. In the event of a bank bail in, you will not be able to withdraw all your funds at your convenience.
Once you decide to go down the Bitcoin rabbit hole in any manner you choose to consume content: Audio/Visual podcasts, articles, books, blogs and or online courses most of which are totally free you will learn about Bitcoin cold storage wallets. With your Bitcoin in your cold storage hardware wallet absolutely no one can freeze or hold your money indefinitely to spend it to solve their problems.
BANNING BITCOIN
Corruption scandals most of which still remain unsolved mysteries to date have directly disenfranchised Kenya’s law enforcement capabilities, the most glaring being the Anglo leasing scandal. This makes it impossible for the state to employ mass surveillance on and offline, ban all communication, emigration as well as immigration. Transient electronic disturbances and or degaussing may be employed however, the damage would not be in the governments best interest especially to its own fragile infrastructure.
Bitcoin being a bearer instrument makes it possible for an individual to memorize or hide their private keys comfortably. Having done one of the two, no one can just come and take your Gold 2.0 as President Roosevelt did to all Americans physical gold and gold certificates by signing into law executive order 6102.
POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY
The Central Bank of Kenya Governor, Dr. Julius Njoroge leads the charge in echoing his global peer’s sentiments that Bitcoin is widely used for “funny business.” In this matter he must do so not only to seem politically correct in the global legacy financial system but more so further his employer’s agenda in virtual signaling to Kenyans that a Central Bank Digital KES is superior to Bitcoin.
Our friends from the east will soon arrive to collect and since they have stated a desire for currency internalization being smack in the middle of their belt and road project we are targets. We will most definitely not be able to deliver payment as prudent investing is not the forte of the Government of Kenya, instead of losing a port like Sir Lanka, we might print KES to pay thus expedite inflation or create our very own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) to play with their Digital Yuan in cyberspace as usual kicking the can down the road.
Bitcoin gives the Kenyan citizen the ability for their financial stability not to be determined by foreign powers or their own “leaders.” A KES Central Bank Digital Currency is not a viable alternative as through the API Key the government would be able to freeze or reverse transaction at their convenience.
If the manipulation and consequent robbery through the IFMIS portal in Kenya is anything to go by, Trillions not Billions will be the new term on the headlines to articulate theft A.K.A graft by key stroke.
Movement of the KES from the printing press to cyberspace is a matter of when not if. To protect yourself from inflation and manipulation, Bitcoin is the sole alternative.
COVID19 NEW NORMAL FOMO
Be it Gold 2.0 or our colonial masters Digital Pound the powers that be will not be in a position to administer either. They will only be able to manipulate and transfer their KES Central Bank Digital Currency, leaving Kenyans who own Bitcoin to have peace of mind regardless of their political affiliation and or which side of the tracks they were born.
If Kenya for once has a person in power willing to effect real change especially to the youth, they will emulate and improve upon strides made by nations who are already facilitating the use of Bitcoin. Singapore is an Asian tiger Kenya once was at per with however, with fewer natural resources it is now where Kenya can only dream to be. Africa should adopt Singapore’s SIBP template to at least catch up.
Kenya has the potential of being Africa’s Wyoming thus leaps and bounds ahead of all other African countries in the region with “leaders” who are still stuck in the past. This will establish Kenya as the go to for investments worldwide in regards to Bitcoin and Blockchain technology.
PRIVACY
KYC means Know Your Customer. This is identification information that the Government of Kenya requires financial service providers to take from all customers for them to be licensed thus compliant with the law. This is all the information you give to open a bank account or register and use MPesa. Bitcoin gives you an opportunity to liberate your identity from your money through utilizing “NO-KYC”
What business does the government have knowing your net worth, who you transact with, when, for what and at what time? The state can take advantage of this information to institute mass surveillance, a credit score system or poor security can lead to bad actors hacking to obtain the same.
CONCLUSION
3 economic revolutions have passed by with Africa not being in a position to fully capitalize. This 4th technological life changing opportunity Bitcoin and Blockchain technology presents will be utilized or pass you by choice as ignorance is no defense.
All the bitcoin education any African needs is free online and with affordable internet bundles as well as cheap 4G handsets, there is absolutely no excuse not to go down the Bitcoin rabbit hole.
Bitcoin is hope.
