What Bitcoin Did with Peter McCormack
Business:Investing
“I do think that there’s a world where this “I think the rest of the Bitcoin world needs to be humble and be open to learn…there’s always this feeling: ‘let’s go help the Africans, let’s go teach the Africans,’ when sometimes, just shut up, and listen.”
— Femi Longe
Femi Longe is program director for Btrust Builders, which educates developers in Africa about Bitcoin. In this interview, we discuss societal issues faced by people in different parts of the world, the economic imperialism hampering emerging economies, and the challenges Africans face in accessing the global financial system. We also talk about the impact of external powers on Africa and the potential of Bitcoin to change the global financial conversation.
- - - -
Femi Longe has extensive experience in promoting transformative innovation across Africa to drive social change. It was perhaps inevitable that he would end up working within the Bitcoin ecosystem. Currently, through his work for Btrust Builders, Femi is helping to build a critical mass of Bitcoin and Lightning engineers from the Global South starting with Africa.
This podcast explores how the global system is designed in a way that prevents emerging economies from thriving. The conversation shines a light on the damaging effects of economic imperialism upon the Global South, best expressed in Alex Gladstein's work. External powers, such as the World Bank and IMF, often prioritise their interests over the well-being of African people.
Femi and I also discussed the numerous practical challenges faced by Africans in accessing global commerce. Companies like Western Union and MoneyGram take a significant cut from remittance transactions (with the US government even requesting information on transactions from these platforms), and there are significant limitations placed on Africans trying to access financial services such as PayPal across borders.
Africa’s problems are compounded by the influence of outside powers: the historical fragmentation of Africa by European powers has made it difficult for African countries to come together and collaborate effectively; latterly, international aid to Africa has distorted local markets and influenced government spending, often to benefit Western businesses at the expense of African countries.
Femi sees Bitcoin as an opportunity for Africans to change the conversation and have a stake in the global financial system, as it cannot be controlled by external powers. He aims to empower Africans to engage with Bitcoin as producers, rather than just consumers, by training developers and connecting them to open-source projects. That way Bitcoin can be integrated into real-life scenarios that are important to people.
- - - -
This episode’s sponsors:
Iris Energy - Bitcoin Mining. Done Sustainably
Bitcasino - The Future of Gaming is here
Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware wallet
Wasabi Wallet - Privacy by default
Unchained - Secure your bitcoin with confidence
Orange Pill App - Stack friends who stack sats
Swan Bitcoin - Invest in Bitcoin with Swan
-----
WBD748 - Show Notes
-----
If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following:
Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contribute
Make a tip:
Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2S
QR Codes: Bitcoin
If you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank you
Subscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS Feed
Leave a review on iTunes
Share the show and episodes with your friends and family
Subscribe to the newsletter on my website
Follow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTube
If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.
GBTC & The SEC Lawsuit with James Seyffart
A Debt Jubilee to Save the Economy with Arthur Hayes
The Case of Roman Sterlingov with Tor Ekeland & Mike Hassard
Ledger Recover with Pascal Gauthier, NVK, Matt Odell & Harry Sudock
Is Bitcoin Warfare? With Jason Lowery
10 Rules for Life with Michael Saylor
1000 Years of Inflation with Rune Østgård
How Fedimint Scales Bitcoin with Obi Nwosu
A Philosophical Case for Bitcoin with Bradley Rettler
Busting the GBTC Trust with David Bailey
Gold, Bitcoin & Inflation with Lawrence Lepard
Escaping Hyperinflation in a Rolls Royce with Freddie New
WBD Live in Bedford with Jeff Booth, James Lavish, Lawrence Lepard & Ben Arc
Why Deflation is the Key to Abundance with Jeff Booth
Recession is Coming with James Lavish
The Regulatory Threat to Bitcoin with Jason Brett
The Truth About Bitcoin Mining with Lane Rettig
Scaling Bitcoin Privacy with Calle
The Sovereign Debt Bubble with Luke Gromen
The Failure of Central Banking with Matthew Mežinskis
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The emPOWERed Half Hour
The Tucker Carlson Show
U.S Property Podcast
Aligned Money Show
Dubai Property Podcast
The Ramsey Show