Bitcoin has attracted a lot of criticism around the world for several reasons including its inability to be scalable and its Proof of Work (POW) consensus mechanism. Proof of Work is a kind of consensus mechanism for validating transactions on the blockchain which requires the use of specialized computing systems.
Due to the “large” amount of energy consumed by these devices in solving the mathematical computations in the Bitcoin blockchain, organizations, individuals, and governments have kicked against mining, especially bitcoin mining.
However, personalities such as Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter, believe bitcoin is important to the world. Speaking at the African Bitcoin Conference in Ghana, the current CEO of Block highlighted three bitcoin-related projects his team is working on.
Open-source hardware wallet & multipurpose miner
The first is TBD, a subsidiary of Block Inc, launched to develop blockchain-powered financial services that’s focused on bitcoin. The bitcoin maximalist also announced that they are working on an open-source hard wallet project that will be used globally, especially in Africa, which will enhance self-custody.
Jack told the audience that a multipurpose hardware miner was being worked on. He explained that the purpose of the portable miner, which will have other use cases, is to help secure the bitcoin network worldwide.
Why BTrust?
Responding to a question on the relevance of the BTrust organization, Jack told the audience that the centralized and concentrated nature of Bitcoin development and developers in the world, especially in the US and Europe, inspired the need for BTrust.
BTrust was launched in February 2022 by Jack Dorsey, in partnership with Jay-Z to drive the development of bitcoin in Africa and India. The duo pledged 500 bitcoins to the project which will be managed by Nigeria’s Abubakar Nur Khalil, Obi Nwosu, and Ojoma Ochai; and South Africa’s Carla Kirk-Cohen.
The plan is to allow these board members to draw up plans that will drive the development of bitcoin by using the resources made available without the interference of either Jack or Jay-Z.
Bitcoin development is driven by necessity
He noted that in a more advanced world, the development of bitcoin was driven by the mere desire to create something unique and attention was also on the price movement of bitcoin. However, in places like Africa and Latin America, bitcoin development is driven by necessity because it is needed as a means of payment and not just for the fluctuations of its price.
Bitcoin, remittance and government
Speaking about the problem he wants to solve with bitcoin in Africa, Jack said that remittance is the biggest and most important use case of bitcoin in Africa. After spending about a month in 2019 between Nigeria, Ghana, and Ethiopia, with entrepreneurs, the “Block Head” insisted that Africans use bitcoin differently from the global North. He also revealed that he wants to spend six months in Africa soon to understand and connect with the region more.
Jack pointed out that while he understands the hostility of the African government towards bitcoin, he believes that building a good and simple use case for bitcoin that can be used anywhere to make life easier will make the hostility die down.
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