Charles Hoskinson, Cardano founder and IOHK chief executive, will be holding meetings with startups across Africa next week. He will consult them on how to use his blockchain to solve local problems.
Hoskinson has said many times African countries needed a safe and strong financial system. Rising digital adoption on the continent, a predominantly young population, and the notable absence of any legacy monetary systems point to Cardano’s good prospects.
What we don’t realize about Cardano’s agenda
While there’s no understating Africa’s economic needs, Cardano does have its own agenda. As competition within DeFi gets more severe, Cardano’s prospects of becoming the next Ethereum killer are being dampened with the latter announcing plans to become more energy efficient as early as next year.
Cardano’s native token, ADA, is struggling against red despite hosting the Cardano Summit in September, during which there were quite a few reports about commercial offices specifically for Africa.
Does Cardano need Africa more than the opposite?
It’s indisputable that crypto provides a viable alternative to traditional finance for African countries, where financial services are less accessible to the public than on other continents. The continent has historically struggled with infrastructure issues, and Cardano was first platform to popularize the use of PoS.
Cardano is facing competition from coins like Polkadot, Avalanche, and Solana – all potential Ethereum killers in their own right. All of their tokens are seeing a growth in market value, which usually means greater consumer interest.
Steep climb for Cardano after improved ETH energy efficiency
After Ethereum jumps the energy efficiency bandwagon, the climb will only get steeper. Recently, Cardano’s ADA dropped from third to fourth by market cap. What’s more, ADA must close a gap of over $300 billion if it’s serious about catching up to Ethereum.
During his keynote address at the Blockchain Africa 2021, Charles Hoskinson said:
The first countries that hold national elections online that are credible, free, fair, and auditable are likely to be African nations. They will be the first countries to have an end-to-end digital identity and economy.
Lofty goals aside, survival is the main issue here. In the future, many cryptos will coexist, like they do now. However, existence presupposes mass adoption by developers as well as users. Community support is what will help one digital asset or another stand against the test of time.
