We the People, For the People, By the People.| Bankless Africa Newsletter
This is Bankless Africa Newsletter, a newsletter that helps you stay up to date with well-curated news about crypto and Web3 around Africa.
Hey Bankless fam! Its been a long week, we took an early DAOwide gap week to recharge, hope you did not miss us too much.
It's amazing to see how quickly the industry is growing. Everyday brands are embracing web3. Take Tiffany & Co for example, they are an American luxury jeweller that just released a crossover pendant NFT collection with Crypto Punks worth 30 ETH; it sold out in just 20 mins! Another household name, MTV Video music awards, now has a new category for the “Best Metaverse Performance. Adidas and Crawley Town FC are building the first soccer team on the blockchain - WAGMI United and back home in Africa, telecommunications giant MTN purchased a land parcel in the Africarare Metaverse.
In our editorial, we explore how DAOs are mirroring the concept of a traditional African village. Can they truly be as spiritual or as practical as one needs them to be?
In our podcast, Dr Hans talks about the Royals NFT, which he created out of the need for diversity and inclusion in the global crypto community. His vision is to create a Royal Family on the blockchain, one that welcomes everyone, hosts one-of-a-kind experiences across the globe, and brings different cultures together to build a more inclusive web3 experience.
In our news section, Africa's crypto adoption numbers continue to break records as blockchain investment grows! Web3 entrepreneurs in Ghana and Zimbabwe are showing how crypto can be used for social good. We close off with our Learning centre where we cover flashloans and how they work.
Contributors: PureJoy, Cisco, anointingthompson1, Leah Par, WinVerse, Nehkee, Miss Purple, Yofi
We the People, For the People, By the People.
Author: PureJoy
DAO Work Is Good Work
GM! DAOs are here to stay and DAOs are here for our future. This may sound a bit presumptuous, but not if you look at the work DAOs have done. Predominantly how they are helping interconnect our fruitful Africa with the global economy, link us to the grander global innovation spaces, and build into technology the innate ways through which Africa has proven its ability to thrive for centuries. Our Bankless Africa Newsletter explores and reminds us why participating in DAOs is inherently good for Africa. In a way, DAOs have always been with Africa, existing in one shape or another as expressed through our village communities way before the Web3 blockchain technologies and Web2 tools like Discord made them common and somewhat necessary.
It Takes a Village
In my experience, Decentralized Autonomous Organizations (DAOs) are groups of like minded, mission driven and oriented humans organizing and unifying to facilitate change, enact self supporting governance, simply get things done and in some way shape or form attempt to raise the bar on a common good. Better yet, DAOs remind me of the way things work in my home village community in Nigeria. Same concept, new technology right? I love when this happens; when we create and enable our online metaverse experiences to mirror what has already existed in real life, or vice versa. It is then that we are able to see differently, hack and code out the bugs, putting it back together better. DAOs are a way to take a closer look at living and operating easily as a community.
Participating in Africa is Good for the World
Determining what constitutes ‘the common good’ is for the people of the DAO - the people of the village, the people of the world - to decide. How do we decide? We propose, we discuss, then we vote on said proposal, should the proposal pass voting, we then implement that common good as defined by the community. Well functioning DAOs, that is functioning good villages and/or countries, are an expression of what real democracy, backed by a global unity can be and - dare I say it - will eventually become. As we like to say, the underlying purpose of DAOs is to decentralize in order to enact a community functioning as ‘the people’, in essence:
"We the people. By the people. For the people."
A society is only as strong as its weakest. The perceived health of a society can be measured in how it treats its most feeble folk. It is why Jesus gives that speech to the outcasts and degenerates of society who had no other place to gather. DAOs mobilize, empower and bring into the guild all with a desire to participate. Through decentralized systems, our desires to heal the world can manifest into their physical existence. DAOs have demonstrated how to unify and distribute goodness to the world, they have done this by creating their own economies, managing their resources and redistributing their assets for the sake of the ‘common good’ of that community. Well functioning DAOs are a great example of how to create better villages, or even beyond that, a better world. If we hyperfocus on how to make the blockchain accessible and practically usable by Africa, to raise funds and distribute resources amongst her most distressed countries and peoples, we just might be able to achieve the much sought after world peace.
DAO Communities are Villages
Now more than ever, the driving force behind DAOs is community and community organizing. Our most recent global community experience through COVID underscored the necessity, the beauty and utility of community, of being a village. To me, the world as we know it got hacked by the virus; we the people (of Web3 and beyond) got to reimagine, recreate, and put our world back together in ways that are not centralized around the fiat economy anymore. We have developed economies that by design, work for the people, versus working against them. Recently, in the October 2021 Harvard International Review Charles Hoskinson said that "the biggest system that needs an update because of globalization and the Internet is the financial system." He further elaborates that optimal uses of Web3 are in developing systems of currency and economy that improve our present banking systems and scale for use by African countries.
I agree and believe that when we, the people of Web 3, focus on the ways through which we can bring the African diaspora and all her creativity, innovation and resources to the world through better systems that ultimately benefit the people of the diaspora we will achieve global harmony. For instance, let us make the blockchain environmentally green and reduce gas fees, for the countries and people of Africa. Let us take the necessary steps by which the people of Africa, and the people of the developing world can massively adopt, contribute and participate in the utility of blockchain. When Africa benefits from the blockchain, the rest of the world benefits.
Are We There Yet?
Some will say, "Yes" while some may still say, "No." My personal definition of community is a group of people who unify themselves around something or some things that they share in common, Hence the common unity. Through this we emphasize the collective good for the community, not just for an individual. Hyper focus on the individuality of a person within a group setting like DAOs dilutes the potency and purpose of the group. There are as many DAOs and ways of organizing DAOs as there are people desiring to participate or start them; whether they continue to exist just for the Web3 blockchain technologies we have today, or lead us through later upgrades of technology like Web7 or even Web8. Yes I dream big and dream often; I envision a better present as well as a better future for us. The current meta should be to recruit and onboard talent into your communities that sees our future in the best light.
We're Almost There!
As you dip your toes into the Web3 space, begin with one DAO, then if you think you have the stomach for it, expand to many. Mix and match those which feed your truest self, then let that be magnified to serve as many DAOs as your heart, your life, passions and compassion can accommodate. The most revolutionary part of DAOing is that you get to enter and participate at your own pace. You get to dream big with a group of thinkers and dreamers looking to build a collective vision; it is an amazing and good thing to be part of it. I love enabling people from around the globe and every walk of life to feel seen, heard and radically welcomed . My road warrior experience as a long term community creator, builder, activator, and participator, organizing humans in various ways is a soft skill I have been granted to apply across various avenues of life.
However, it really wasn't until I experienced being welcomed into DAOs, where I am enabled to participate with none, any and all of my acumen or potential contributions. To be welcomed simply for being and not necessarily for what I can do or have is good. I deeply appreciate anything we, you or I bring to offer, add or share as long as it does not diminish the metaphorical "we" as a collective. DAOs can really be an opportunity to be valued for the least expressed, and least experienced part of ourselves. I am extremely humbled that through this present season I have been blessed by many opportunities to participate in one way or another. So I am proclaiming to you our readers that I am, that you are and that we are welcome here. We are welcomed to participate at our own pace, as we together learn how to make our communities better.
Communities are Like Art
Don't worry, be happy as you continue to join us in learning and growing. DAOs don't make sense…until they do. In comparison, neither does art make sense until it does. Like a dance that is learned then practiced over time, eventually coming full circle just at the right time. Thankfully, for all of us, the bar of entry to Web3 is low. You can come as you are, you can be as present or as distant as you need to be. There are no hefty expectations until you choose to participate in that part of the process. Likewise, what we see through art in our mind's eye is ours to ponder. No matter how simple, messy or complicated, we decide and get to dance with what we perceive. With this thought I challenge us to pause and simply enjoy the following art piece, titled “Home Sweet Home, WYSIWYG”; feel free to share and elaborate on what you see, what you feel, after all, your perspective and interpretation is unique to you and of benefit to the "we" of community.
In practice, DAOs can be both as spiritual or as practical as you need them to be for you. As an extravagant creative it is important for me to be in environments that foster, encourage, honor and help steer creativity, without seeking to quench it. The good Lord knows I've shared my experiences with that. Most importantly, I would like to conclude this editorial by saying this, we hope you know how happy we are that you are here; you are reading, you are participating. We are better for it and want to keep hearing from you. As soon as the occasions permit, we would like to meet you somewhere in the blockchain or who knows, maybe even at a Web3 event somewhere in Africa (wink, wink).
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📰 News & Opinion In and Around Africa
Africa’s crypto adoption numbers continue to break records as blockchain investment grows
Amidst the recent market crash, cryptocurrency adoption within the African continent continues to grow strong. Venture capitalist firms are optimistic about the potential for growth of the blockchain space and continually express this optimism by investing in African blockchain startups.
A report released on the 3rd of August, 2022 revealed that VCs invested a total of $304m in the first half of 2022 alone, sharply contrasting with the $127m invested over the entire course of 2021.
The concentration of cryptocurrency adopters and investors in Africa continues to rise with countries like Nigeria, South Africa, Kenya and the Central African Republic.
Web3 entrepreneurs in Ghana and Zimbabwe are showing how crypto can be used for social good
Prior to the advent of more modern financial techniques such as mobile money and digital currencies, Africa was considered an underbanked continent. The inability of the majority of the population to access needed financial services was considered a common social problem.
This is being gradually surmounted through the use of digital currencies. A recent study has shown an uptick in individuals with traditional bank accounts, linked to increased use of mobile money and digital assets services.
One of such social good projects is Ghana's Mazzuma, which leverages blockchain infrastructure to enable peer-to-peer payments. It has however expanded its operations since inception to span a more robust range of financial services offerings.
First-Year Students Win CV Labs Blockchain Hackathon in South Africa
A group of first year students in South Africa won the hackathon organised by the Swiss blockchain Venture firm CV Venture Capital, where they created a healthcare industry based innovation that focused on disease screening.
This University of Johannesburg Innovation Hackathon saw 200 participants, adding to the already increased number of blockchain based hackathons across the continent.
Bank of the Central African States Encourages a Common Digital Currency
According to a Friday report from Bloomberg, the Central African States - that is the Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo, encouraged by its Board, might launch a computerised bank cash system in the nearest future. The Board of the Bank of the Central African States has also encouraged the development of a CBDC for its member states.
Nigeria was criticised by the Bank of the Central African States for accepting BTC as a lawful asset, the claim is that this is a potentially dangerous move, one which could negatively affect the Central African financial association.
On the other hand, after embracing Bitcoin as a legal tender in April, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, the President of CAR, introduced a crypto drive called Sango Project in June, whose Sango coin token was said to have begun sales on the 25th of July. This initiative is expected to transform the CAR financial system into an inclusive and attractive one.
The Board of the Bank strongly opposes this project and requests for the dissolution of the law making Bitcoin a legal tender.
High Potential for Crypto Investing depends on Ease of Access
The results of a recent survey have shown that South Africans would be inclined to invest in the cryptocurrency and digital asset space if the infrastructure to do so was made readily available to them, possibly by the banks.
Of the total number of surveyed participants, 53% indicated an interest in the affirmative to potentially vest their resources in digital assets if knowledge on how to do such is made available.
Although South Africa is ranked second in terms of crypto adoption in Africa, this should be seen as a call for more cryptocurrency and blockchain technology educational outreach initiatives, to enlighten people in the region about what the industry is all about. The more familiar people become with a new concept or a technology, the easier it is for them to accept, adopt and build around it.
Cardano Continues to Evolve in Africa
Cardano’s African campaign continues to gain strength; with Adaverse, Cardano's ecosystem accelerator, they are showing that they are truly serious about developing in Africa.
Adaverse, which aims to solely support African crypto start-ups, participated in the seed funding round for Afriguild, an African blockchain gaming guild and decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO).
With the blockchain's parent firm, Input Output Hong Kong (IOHK), partnering with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education just over a year ago, Cardano is showing their intentions to indeed grow their scale across the African continent.
Inaugural Certified Developer Graduations
A graduation ceremony was held on July 30th 2022, to mark the conclusion of a three-month coding bootcamp in Kenya. The event, sponsored by Web3 Clubs & in partnership with BitKE saw 25 certified developers graduate after learning how to build and deploy smart contracts on the NEAR network.
During the graduation, students showcased their final projects, presenting their ‘minimum viable product’ (MVPs) visions built on the NEAR protocol, with the MVPs standing a chance to get funded and accelerated into the Kanga Incubation program.
The Web3 Clubs, however, do not intend to stop here as they are planning on building High School, College and University communities in which students can exist with the intention of pursuing Web3 engineering.
📚 Learning Centre
Flash Loans- Defi Download Newsletter
DeFi lending has enabled the rise of “Flash Loans”. Flash loans allow users to borrow assets without providing collateral for a very limited amount of time (within the same block). These loans are typically used for arbitrage opportunities between different DeFi protocols.
There is no risk of losing funds, because if the loan is not repaid in the same transaction, the loan is considered invalid. Pioneered by Aave, flash loans must be requested by a custom smart contract that pays back the loan plus the interest in one transaction. These loans are primarily for developers, but tools like DeFi saver offer end users access to the new technology.
They can be used to cover debt positions backed by falling collateral, without paying liquidation penalties. Given a position on the verge of liquidation, compare the cost of liquidation (13%) vs the cost of a flash loan (gas).
😂 Meme Humour
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