Crypto education can bring financial empowerment to Latin Americans
Categories: Crypto News US
In October 2021, it was estimated that approximately 15% of the world’s supply of Bitcoin (BTC) was in circulation in Latin America. According to a recent report released by Crypto Literacy, however, 99% of Brazilian and Mexican respondents failed a basic assessment on crypto literacy.
Crypto adoption is well underway across the region — on the rise even — but, people still lack a basic understanding of its underlying technology and use cases. When this lack of basic crypto literacy is considered in the context of developing markets across Latin America, where the use cases for blockchain technologies hold real significance, it becomes a serious concern.
Latin American populations who lack crypto literacy risk missing out on stablecoins that can offer protection against Latin America’s rapidly rising inflation.
As well as decentralized applications (DApps) that give populaces of unbanked people admittance to monetary administrations from their cell phones. In nations where settlements are a significant feature of the economy, digital currencies offer a quicker and less expensive option for sending assets across borders.
Monetary education
Monetary education, or deficiency in that department, doesn't simply remain as a boundary to crypto reception: It remains as a hindrance to customary bank reception too. Across Latin America and the Caribbean, almost 50% of the populace is unbanked as of August 2021, lacking admittance to a ledger or other monetary administrations.
As well as living a long way from monetary foundations, numerous people refer to a shortfall of confidence in organizations as a justification for remaining unbanked. Where there is little trust, there is many times an absence of understanding.
Trust
Speaking from personal experience, it’s not rare in Mexico to hear stories of parents recommending that their (adult) children exchange their savings for United States dollars and hide it away in a safe rather than trusting those earnings with a financial institution.
By building financial literacy both around broad financial concepts and more concentrated blockchain-related concepts, we can inspire greater trust in financial institutions as a key pillar for promoting mainstream adoption.
Safety
The trust that education garners is more than just trust in financial institutions. It’s also trusting yourself: When people don’t understand the institutions and tools with which they’re interacting, those individuals are more likely to make risky financial decisions. And, they know that. Education can serve as one form of a safety net, teaching individuals which regulations are and are not in place to protect them so they can understand how financial services fit within those regulatory frameworks.
Teach where it matters most
Crypto has the potential to change the world and those who understand it best will be at a huge advantage. Knowing the power that education creates, it’s important that the crypto world targets audiences strategically to perpetuate already entrenched inequalities. Remote and underserved communities, as well as those with less access to traditional education, should be at the forefront of the recipients of blockchain education.