Re:Libra, 2 Weeks In
by democracy on Tuesday July 09, 2019 @04:06AM
(#20389810)
The fact that they don't have a "bank account" in a traditional sense doesn't mean that they can't do what they want to do - transfer money to each other and make purchases using other means. The "bank the unbanked" idea that crypto-shills like so much only works for people who know nothing about these "3rd world countries".
[ Parent
| on HN ]
They can't buy online, and so no one is advertising to them yet they are heavily using the Facebook platform. Facebook is trying to recruit them into the online marketplace by giving them a seamless way to spend internationally online, so that advertisers will buy more ads.
Whether or not it will work I have no idea, I don't know the markets that well. But their motives are transparent, the rest of the spiel is just "change the world" drum beating and cleaning the dialogue.
Making local purchases isn't the issue. Ordering something from another country is the issue. Good luck shopping online from Nigeria.
It's also not so much that it's impossible, but the markups are crazy.
Re:Libra, 2 Weeks In
by Heliosmaster on Tuesday July 09, 2019 @05:46AM
(#20390229)
I see mentioned a lot the problem with online shopping.. what about shipping and the other countless logistics problem with ordering stuff from Nigeria?
Re:Libra, 2 Weeks In
by asymmetric on Tuesday July 09, 2019 @05:14AM
(#20390092)
Are you thinking of systems like hawala?