Why Botswana should embrace Bitcoin

After several years of skepticism and misunderstanding about cryptocurrencies, Botswana’s lawmakers passed a bill to regulate crypto trading last February. Even though the bitcoin ecosystem in Botswana is relatively new, the step taken by lawmakers should make bitcoin gain credibility. However, with lots of divided opinions about bitcoin on social media, Batswana are faced with the challenge of which information they could rely on. Hence, this article will outline five key reasons Batswana should embrace bitcoin.

1. Bitcoin adoption creates decent employment opportunities

Alakanani Itireleng, a Batswana bitcoin enthusiast commonly known in her community as the BitcoinLady, tells how the cryptocurrency ecosystem has provided her and her team members with decent jobs. With her teaching skills, she engages in educating people on how to make money through bitcoin and altcoins and how to build applications on blockchain at the Satoshi Centre, a startup under her coordination in Gaborone. Like her, other crypto believers in Botswana agree that the crypto space is one with lots of opportunities for job seekers. Moreover, working in the FinTech enterprise is conducive as most jobs are remote.

2. Investment opportunities

Abraham Lincoln said, “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” if this is true about other life projects, it is even more true about finances. The path to creating a financially secure future is through investments. Investing in stocks, real estate, gold, and diamond has been Botswana's most common investment practice. The advent of cryptocurrencies is another profitable investment opportunity that many should not ignore. Cryptocurrencies are volatile and hence risky for investment. However, it is worth noting that it is a domain that has produced several billionaires between 2009 and 2022. The constant volatile nature of bitcoin caught the interest of intelligent investors, some of whom buy bitcoin when the price falls to resell when the price increases. The profits made from investments in cryptocurrencies largely depend on one’s appetite for risk.

3. Bitcoin offers financial inclusion to all.

With bitcoin, no one suffers from the constraining policies of the traditional banking system such as owning a bank account and paying an account maintenance fee. Daily, both banked, underbanked, and unbanked citizens express the desire to have control over their finances. The Decentralised Finance system attempts to make such desires a dream come true. Cryptocurrency companies' mode of operation proves that adopting bitcoin can grant financial access to all. Thus, they can bypass the accrued difficulties of using the traditional finance system.

4. Easy, fast, and limitless transaction Service

Traditional banks allow clients to store their finances in Savings or Current Accounts, requiring prior notification before withdrawing a considerable amount. On the contrary, owning a bitcoin wallet has proven more efficient and conducive. Bitcoin users can send and receive huge sums of money in their wallets from anywhere in the world without interruption. Interestingly, you can easily convert the amounts received in bitcoin and withdraw in Pula.

5. Low transaction cost

Financial transactions in and across national borders always have a price tag that varies depending on the amount you are sending. Clients have to pay transaction charges when sending money. Some internal charges can be minimal; however, most cross-border transaction charges, especially remittances, are exorbitant. The good news is that bitcoin transactions charge little or no fee. Wallet to Wallet transactions are mostly free of charge. Now you can imagine how beneficial transactions for migrants could be if they use bitcoin wallets to send money home.