In his keynote presentation at the Digital Nigeria International Conference, Lorien Gamaroff delved into the potential of blockchain in an emerging economy. The Centbee CEO followed it up with an interview on CoinGeek Backstage, where he discussed the rising adoption of blockchain in Africa as the region ventures beyond digital assets.
At the conference, Gamaroff announced the launch of Centbee version 4, which allows an easier top-up and payment process.
“Before you are able to spend your Bitcoin, you have to get it,” he told CoinGeek Backstage reporter Becky Liggero. The new version “is very convenient and works great,” he added, pointing out that users can now acquire Bitcoin in their wallets through bank payments.
Gamaroff is based in South Africa, but he acknowledged that Nigeria has taken the lead with digital assets and blockchain. While the people have warmed up to Bitcoin, the government has played its part and launched official policies to push blockchain adoption.
“The government is very friendly to the notion of a regulatory compliant blockchain and a payment app like Centbee that’s following all the payment laws like know-your-customer and anti-money laundering. Centbee fulfills all the criteria that make Bitcoin SV a useful cash system that’s compliant, low-cost, and fun to use,” he stated.
In his presentation, Gamaroff cautioned against getting swayed by social media influencers in the quest for blockchain knowledge. Pushing narratives through paid campaigns has become even easier in today’s digital world. Unfortunately, the target audience believes the narrative and often misses out on the truth.
One such false narrative is that Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin to be ungovernable and beyond the reach of the law.
“No government in the world is ever going to allow a system like this to exist, let alone businesses like Centbee to provide services to customers,” said Gamaroff.
It’s critical for Bitcoin enthusiasts to only seek knowledge from legitimate sources that aim to educate without hidden agendas. One such source is the BSV Academy, Gamaroff pointed out.
“If you want to cut through all the noise around blockchain and get to the core of it, I think the BSV Academy is doing a fantastic job.”
The Centbee founder lauded African governments that are working on regulating blockchain technology. However, he pointed out that most are focused solely on regulation and are missing the value they can reap from the technology.
“Governments can benefit from adopting the BSV blockchain themselves. If they stop thinking about how to control and think of how they can make use of the opportunity, we’ll see more positive developments in the space, and everyone is going to win.”