A Foreign Dollar Bill
I have an actual dollar in my wallet (not that kind of wallet), the physical cash one, as in my hard wallet (see what I did there). To be honest I don’t even remember when I got it, just that I have had it in every wallet I have used in the past 5 years or so. If you don’t live where I live, that piece of knowledge is not significant at all, but where I come from, that is a strange thing to have in one’s wallet.
If you will allow me, I would like to talk about something that a lot of people seem to either forget or in their defence, not be aware of, I guess you could say it’s a little bit of perspective.
When I first saw how much NFT’s cost, I thought (sometimes I still think this to be honest) for sure it was a ridiculous money printing game, because why would anyone pay two-hundred-and-fifty dollars for any of it? Why would anyone call this space open to everyone when they expected that much from the buyers? I did not understand it, not because I did not understand how NFTs worked, but because 250 American Dollars to me was 250 multiplied by give/take 15. It’s called foreign exchange, where a single dollar is not a single one of our currency, but rather fifteen or so of them. Right out the gate, that number is not easy for a freelancer like me to be able to reach as frequently as one would like to be able to mint around 2 projects a month. Without giving you too much of a boring economy lesson, at the core of it, the economy of my country is, well, it is nothing like the West. We have the breathtaking landscapes, the unmarred bodies of water and all sorts of creatures thriving in the ecosystem, but our financial bodies lack that lustre that one needs for a fully & openly progressive environment.
So when people say web3 changed their lives and I see them referring to a 30ETH flip, I do the numbers in my head and wonder how those numbers even make sense! It is mind blowing to me; for reference, one Ethereum is not just +3000 Dollars, it is +45 000 Maloti. I do not have that kind of ETH, but web3 has definitely changed my life too, in my opinion, this goes to show how truly revolutionary the space could be for other African economies, it could literally change the quality & way of life of so many people where I come from. So it breaks my heart a little when I realise how few of us are in here, how few of us take the time to understand as many facets of the space as we can, from DeFi, to gaming, to NFTs; there is so much space for us to grow, to develop and become the future we have always missed out on.
I am not completely disheartened though, because I have come across some wonderful people who are building and innovating for economies like ours. The borderless nature of this space is one of the biggest assets for it, but some initiative is still needed to include us in the solutions the space promises. There are over 40 currencies to date in Africa, so I understand that we won’t all win, I am not naïve about that, all I am doing is hoping for innovation that answers our questions & our problems too; maybe that needs to come from us, the early birds, this is not a time for waiting but rather for building. So the next time you are building something, ask yourself if it is truly accessible by all, and if it is, know that you could really change lives in an unbelievably phenomenal way. Get your coin yes, but don’t forgot the core of the space is based on a type of shared economy for the people.
Here is a challenge for the builders out there: crypto is still a touch-and-go topic on this side of the planet, but if accessing one’s earnings were an easier feat, I reckon a lot more people would be getting on board. A very special shoutout to the Celo Ecosystem & Nestcoin for the steps they are taking to provide access & bring DeFi to the People, I see you, the people appreciate you.
It is probably 11:11 somewhere, so let me make a wish to close this off, Galverse, the goddess of the magic planet called ‘Mother’, she is the source of goodness and balance for all worlds across space.
The combination of space related fiction (I love stories, I dare say I practically live on lore) and the insane art had me starry eyes & sold! Who needs the moon when there are entire stars to capture!
