For many investors in cryptocurrencies, this is likely to be the best time to be alive as the market emerges from near obscurity into the limelight following the announcement of Facebook Libra. However, research by global cryptocurrency firm, Luno have noted that emerging markets which includes countries in Europe, Africa and South-East Asia are likely to be the first to adopt the virtual currency and other similar altcoins.
The Facebook Libra was revealed on Monday and touted as a global cryptocurrency to possibly rival the dominance of bitcoin. It already enjoys the full support from about 29 multinational companies including PayPal, Visa, Mastercard, ebay, Uber, Spotify and many others. In fact, Visa, Uber and Andreessen Horowitz which would also be founding members of the Libra Association have invested at least $10 million each into the project’s operations.
According to the White Paper, Libra which was developed by a Swiss foundation and a consortium led by Facebook and minted on the Libra Blockchain, has a mission as a global currency and financial structure to empower billions of people.
The choice of Libra Blockchain is intended to address a global audience and the software is open source which is designed so that anyone can build on it, and billions of people can depend on it for their financial needs.
“As some of the world’s largest tech giants announce they are launching cryptocurrency coins we believe developing markets will be the lead adopters,” said Marcus Swanepoel, CEO of Luno. “Our research shows that in these markets people are more financially savvy because they have to be, which means that they need and understand the benefits the new coins can offer.”
A survey of 7000 people across emerging markets, including Nigeria where Luno has a physical presence, found that many respondents believe that almost three times as many respondents from Nigeria and South Africa said a single global currency would make the current financial system better.
Also the respondents said money is important to them because it helps them secure their families well-being (60 per cent) and pay for education (25 per cent in Nigeria compared to 8 per cent in the UK). Furthermore, respondents in Malaysia (80%), Nigeria (65%), South Africa (73%) and Indonesia (74%) said they were likely to stay within the budget they set on a monthly basis.
Swanepoel said these are indications that money is not simply a “nice to have” commodity.
“Therefore if a cryptocurrency can provide a secure and cheaper means of exchanging value, better than the existing system, it will be used. This is why we believe that as new cryptocurrencies, linked to global brands are introduced they will find an important audience in emerging markets.”
The Libra cryptocurrency will be publicly launched in the first half of 2020. In the meantime, the news of Libra is likely to make a positive impact on the prices of major cryptocurrencies like bitcoin which has held above $9,000 for over 48 hours.
