In a small pizzeria in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, Emanuele Costa, an Italian financial analyst, tech-enthusiast and Bitcoin advocate, has introduced a Bitcoin ATM which he hopes will spark the interest of people in using Bitcoin and see it at something accessible and easy to use.
Costa told Eurasia.net that he wants to inform people about Bitcoin, and how it’s a better alternative for sending money across borders than traditional financial services such as Western Union are.
Bitcoin could have a very special appeal in Kyrgyzstan if it becomes widely known about. According to the World Bank, migrant remittances in Kyrgyzstan last year amounted to a staggering 31 percent of the country’s GDP. A majority of that money was transferred using Western Union and Zolotaya Korona, financial services that both take significant fees for transferring money. Money that could have been used by people’s families.
Costa sees a huge potential in Bitcoin, and has been conducting informal Bitcoin meetups to educate people on how it can improve and simplify their economic lives. It’s also a huge bonus that Kyrgyzstan has weak financial regulatory systems which makes it more open in experimenting with currencies such as Bitcoin.
“Due to the lack of legacy [financial] systems and the government’s openness to trying new things, Kyrgyzstan is a very attractive place to implement a bitcoin facilitated transactional system,” Costa told EurasiaNet.org.
Despite Costa’s positive view on Bitcoin, he knows it faces a lot of challenges. As The Guardian notes in another interview, Kyrgyzstan is expected to join the Russian-led Eurasian Union by next year. Though Russia has recently changed its stance on Bitcoin, it hasn’t fully accepted it and is taking a wait-and-see approach before making any decisions. Simply put, it can still ban the use of Bitcoin and with Kyrgyzstan joining the union, that could spell trouble for the future of digital currencies in the country.
Speaking of Bitcoin troubles, The Argentinean Central Bank has issued a warning regarding the use of Bitcoin.
Kyrgyzstan isn’t the only country that sees Bitcoin as a replacement for Western Union.
Kipochi, a mobile service that aims to make Bitcoin easier to use for less technically-minded folks, launched in Kenya earlier this year and plans to expand its services to Tanzania and beyond so more people can enjoy the benefits of using Bitcoin.
photo credit: Böltürük via photopin cc
July 09, 2014 at 06:19AM
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