Written by:Joseph Hall

Translation: Web3 Asia, Africa and Latin America Translation Team

Senegal is a West African country that has emerged from the ruins of fraud, sovereign interference and poor transportation to a thriving Bitcoin economy.

Dakar, the capital of Senegal, hosts a pan-African Bitcoin conference every year. There are more than ten companies and merchants that accept BTC payments, as well as the local PTOP BTC exchange, and various emergingCommunityCo-organized.

Even in the bear market, within ten months of Dakar's first offline event, the city held BTC Days, and BTC-related events began to emerge. Why is BTC suddenly popular in Senegal? Is the country heading towards "superTokenWill it bring about a "hyperbitcoinization" or a small "mass adoption"?

Will Senegal be the next country in the region to follow El Salvador’s footsteps? I want to know the answer. I missed the birth of Bitcoin Beach in El Salvador in 2019, but I don’t want to miss out on the bottom-up Bitcoin circular economy in West Africa.

Let’s take a look at what a Bitcoin Beach would look like in Senegal.

Monetary Colonialism CFA

The French created the CFA (West African Franc) currency system and control the exchange rate; they even designed and printed the banknotes used in Africa. This means that a Frenchman in the university town of Clermont-Ferrand, who has never set foot in Africa, designed the CFA banknotes used by millions of Africans in 13 countries.

The CFA franc is currently pegged to the Euro at a fixed rate of 655.957 to 1, having been drastically devalued from 1:505 to 1:100 to the former French franc in 1994. At the instigation of France, they worked with the World Bank and the IMF to create a "devaluation" that wiped out the savings of the Senegalese people.

Most importantly, French officials sit on the board of directors of the French-speaking African central bank and have significant powers, including veto power.

Alex Gladstein of the Human Rights Foundation once explained: “Unlike the normal fiat currency system, the CFA system is far more insidious. The CFA is monetary colonialism.”

From Cuba to Turkey, from South Africa to Serbia, I have never seen a greater need for monetary liberation than in Central or West Africa, and the best option is BTC.

The birth of the next Bitcoin Beach

In January 2022, I noticed on Twitter that several bars in the expatriate area of Dakar (the capital of Senegal) had started accepting BTC payments. You can buy crepes or bissap (a refreshing local drink made from hibiscus flowers) through the BTC Lightning Network while watching the waves on the beach.

SHENZXH This immediately reminds me of El Salvador's civilian adoption program "Bitcoin Beach", which ultimately aims to make Bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador. This makes people excited because perhaps Dakar has the potential to give birth to a "Bitcoin Tavern".

At this moment, I am eager to chat with people who are committed to Bitcoin adoption.

Merchants dedicated to Dakar accept BTC

Nuru (not his real name), a tall, soft-spoken Senegalese man who spends most of his time working in France, is an unusual Bitcoin advocate.

Nuru pointed to the wings of Africa during an interview

Nuru returned to Senegal during the COVID-19 outbreak, but the chaos caused by the pandemic did not affect his dream of making Bitcoin the preferred currency in his hometown.

He returned to Senegal in 2021 and found that his friends and even family had been scammed by Ponzi schemes like Petronpay and other popular schemes in Africa.cryptocurrencyHe lost most of his savings in a scam. So, he set up Bitcoin in SenegalCommunity.

“I was the first one to attend the first Space we held on Clubhouse. We only had three or four people in the beginning, but I kept doing two Spaces a week, then once a week, because we slowly had 10, 20… hundreds of people listening,” he told Cointelegraph about his experiment.

Peer-to-peer, pure use of BTC

In February 2022, while traveling in Senegal, I attended the first Bitcoin meetup in Senegal. It was a landmark event, as previous meetups were held on Twitter or Clubhouse. I was also shocked by the level of attendance.

The room was filled with Bitcoin fundamentalists, Bitcoin maximalists, entrepreneurs, central bankers. Even professors from the best universities in Dakar. The atmosphere was in stark contrast to the Bitcoin meetups I've attended in Europe or the US, which were frankly just a bunch of white, millennial dudes shorting fiat currencies.

The first face-to-face BTC meetup in Senegal in February 2022. Nourou is second from the right and I am fifth from the left (back row).

I also saw that Nuru has introduced three more restaurants on the Bitcoin network. Interestingly, many of these merchants use Bitcoin in its purest form: a peer-to-peer cash system.

They accept payments based on Bitcoin or Lightning Network, and also hold Bitcoin, with the aim of using Bitcoin as a base currency in the circular economy. Nuru is developing an app that allows merchants to convert cash into local currency, giving them access to cash when they need it.

I left Senegal happy in March 2022. I was inspired by the Bitcoin believers who invested their time and energy in educating others about money and ultimately Bitcoin in places where Bitcoin is needed most.

In August 2022, Nuru sent me a text message out of the blue saying that he was planning to host a Bitcoin forum in Senegal, as well as the Dakar Bitcoin Days. This would be the first time that Bitcoin enthusiasts from all over the world would be on the African continent, sharing their passion for Bitcoin and discussing how to drive local adoption of BTC.

Dakar Bitcoin Days Dakar Bitcoin Days

Bitcoin Day Dakar brought together Bitcoin enthusiasts and economists from all over Africa. From Cameroon to Congo, from Mali to Côte d’Ivoire to the Central African RepublicXiaobai NavigationIn the United States, Bitcoin enthusiasts from all over the African continent gathered here. In an interview, Nuru pointed to the African continent and said: "If we work together, Africa will fly."

Nuru in the background before the meeting

Bitcoin Day Dakar was presented in three languages: English, French and Wolof. Since French is the official language of Senegal and Wolof is by far the most widely spoken language, the Wolof event attracted the most attendees.

This activity is also suitable for beginners, covering economics, finance,Safetyand Bitcoin Basics. Experts will hold panel discussions on cryptography, while there will also be debates such as "Is Bitcoin Halal?" to give everyone cultural insights into Bitcoin in Senegal, a 97% Muslim country. The conference was packed with students and young people.

Nuru shared his vision for Senegal with me. He explained that Senegal will lead West Africa out of the darkness of monetary colonization and that the spread of Bitcoin information in Africa will also be decentralized.

I want the message to switch. Africa is not a country — it is a continent. That's why we call it Dakar Bitcoin Days: If you come to Senegal, you will meet Senegalese; if you go to Mali, you meet Mali people.

Africa is not a country – it is a continent: if you come to Senegal, you meet Senegalese; if you go to Mali, you meet Malians.

There may be some similarities between different countries, such as shared history and overlapping cultures, but Africa is as diverse as Europe. Activities, like Bitcoin, need to be decentralized and distributed. Let every region in Africa adopt Bitcoin.

Bitcoin in Senegal

During the conference, I also interviewed a merchant who accepts Bitcoin payments, the owner of a French expat bar. The bar has only recently started accepting Bitcoin. Although completely new to decentralized currencies, Gary (the owner's name) is happy to see new customers coming to the bar because of Bitcoin. When I chatted with him face to face, I tried to convince him to accept Bitcoin payments in his other tattoo shop as well.

A tattoo parlor now accepting BTC

塞内加尔冲浪队教练 Rene Laraise 管理的 Pranha 是该地区第一家接受比特币的餐厅。冲浪作为塞内加尔继足球之后最出色的体育活动之一，他作为冲浪教练也是Community的代言人。

I also spoke to “Mama Bitcoin,” who has been trading bitcoin for fish along the Atlantic coast for three years. In a country where cash is king and banking services are usually reserved for the wealthy, trading bitcoin for fish is a visionary choice. Banks in West Africa often charge high fees and impose strict requirements on users: For example, withdrawing cash can cost several dollars.

During my second trip to Senegal, I gave away Bitcoin to over 70 people. The process was simple: I asked them to download Lightningwallet, usually Satoshi Nakamotowallet, and they click receive.

walletIt is custodial, which means they don’t actually hold the keys to the Bitcoin. But they believe that Satoshi’s wallet won’t run away with the funds like Sam Bankman-Fried did. For newbies, this is already a good starting point.

I sent them each a few thousand satoshis, the equivalent of one or two dollars in Bitcoin. I found it easy to distribute BTC in Senegal compared to other countries I’ve traveled to. People are hungry for money, hungry to learn. They want to use a method that is not as easy to be used as CFA.stealWithdraw or save in devalued currency.

I gave away free Bitcoin to attendees, and from the smiles of onlookers I could tell it had become part of the entertainment at the conference.

I gave Bitcoin on the beach, on the sidewalk, during meetings, in restaurants and bars, to taxi drivers, and to tip hotel staff.

Mostly I give Bitcoin to young people, boys and girls over 16, and young men. The average age in the US is about 40, and Senegal has a very young population. If a mobile-native, internet-based currency is given the right to take off in Africa, it's no surprise that it will take off fast.

After all this, the idea that the Bitcoin circular economy could take off in Senegal is even more plausible. People want Bitcoin, but don’t have it.exchangeAvailable for purchase, international visitors to Senegal use Bitcoin for peer-to-peer payments. Bitcoin can therefore become a peer-to-peer currency in Senegal as envisioned in its white paper.

Mobile payments meet the Lightning Network

Moreover, mobile payments are already booming in Africa. The development of mobile payment companies, initially M-Pesa became famous in Kenya, and then mobile payment companies have sprung up all over Africa, as common as Apple stores in European cities. Today, most Africans have smartphones and may not have regular electricity or free drinking water, but they have the Internet.

If you don’t have internet, you can also use SMS to make payments. You only need to send a credit SMS to send and receive payments like a bank transfer. The largest mobile payment company is called Wave.

The Wave logo can be seen at taxi companies, restaurants, bars and cafes. It’s a bit like the Lightning Network, but slower, more expensive and uses local currencies.

I tried to find Wave employees to preach to and get them on board with the Bitcoin network. I was lucky enough to meet a Wave employee while watching the World Cup in a bar. I immediately had him download a wallet and send him some Bitcoin. I connected to the bar's WiFi and sent him Bitcoin. He was impressed and said he would come to a meeting the next day, but I never saw him again.

There is an interesting story. During an interview with the Wave Marketing Director, he shared his experience of meeting and hanging out with Satoshi Nakamoto in Senegal.

Your expression when someone says they know Satoshi Nakamoto

Senegal has some young digital natives, Bitcoin leaders and respected mentors in society. Annual conferences are also being held, more and more vendors are accepting Bitcoin, and as it shows: traditionally, remittances via mobile phones are also acceptable.

This is the face of Bitcoin in Africa, and a way for the continent to leapfrog developed countries. So why can’t we leapfrog mobile money with the Lightning Network?

The article comes from the Internet:Senegal: Hope for the next “Bitcoin Beach”

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