Recently I have read an article written by Miller Whitehouse-Levine in coindesk.com with a line saying that – “One of the biggest criticisms of crypto is that it has not fulfilled its promises of increasing financial inclusivity…”
Among the purpose of creating cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin was to provide financial services to unbanked populations around the world. However, after more than a decade since its creation, it seems that these expectations have not been met.
The World Bank reports that 1.4 billion people around the world are unbanked, with 1.1 billion having access to internet-connected phones.
While some proponent think that cryptocurrency will usher in financial freedom to the marginalized sectors, however after over a decade of bitcoin and altcoin existence, it seems that these expectations are quite far from reality.
Here comes Pi Network, now reported to have over 35 million app users distributed in 233 countries.
Pi Network’s mission is to “build a cryptocurrency and smart contracts platform secured and operated by everyday people.” The long-term scenario is that Pi will be widely used globally as a digital cash. A cryptocurrency that will fuel the “the world’s most inclusive peer-to-peer marketplace” as plainly stated on its vision statement.
Pi is a cryptocurrency primarily intended to be used as a medium of exchange. That it can be used to buy products, or pay services and transaction fees within the Pi ecosystem.
In itself, Pi is not designed as an investment asset, or to be used like an item that can be traded as what had happen to most cryptocurrency. It is not made primarily to be sold or bought in cryptocurrency exchange platforms.
Considering the unauthorized listings of Pi in crypto exchanges doing IOU transactions now even before the launching of Pi open mainnet, there are indications that Pi might just follow the fate of most cryptocurrencies. A digital currency that will highly be subject to speculative pricing and manipulation. Unless the whole Pi Network community along with the Core Team will be decisive and aggressive enough in pursuing the goals it had set.
Yes, the only way for Pi Network to succeed where other cryptocurrency fails to achieve is to be united on the primal objective to usher in financial inclusivity. Offering an opportunity to ordinary men and women on the street to earn cryptocurrency just by using their mobile phones, then hold and use this digital money in day to day transactions.
The thirty five million users base is already a very formidable springboard that will facilitate the realization of bringing people, hopefully billions more on-board to the cryptocurrency space, to do commercial activities worldwide.
For this to be realized, there are still lot of tasks and things that must be done. Foremost of which is the acceleration and if possible, the simplification of the KYC – Know Your Customer – verification process that is going on at present. Though these past days it was observed that thousands of Pioneers have successfully undergone the process daily and were fully validated, there are still some having issues of pending validations and millions still waiting their KYC slots.
In as much as the Core Team desires that Pi will be a cryptocurrency that is compliant to government’s financial regulatory policies, what we can look forward to in the future is for it to become a globally accepted digital money.
What is needed now is to create more real life practical utilities of Pi coin for it to facilitate commercial transactions thereby building a sustainable Pi Network ecosystem. This is where all the millions of Pi believers and users is needed most, for it to be successful where other cryptocurrency have failed to accomplish. To take active part in building an inclusive and progressive crypto-based community.
