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Why Blockchain Can Bring Financial Inclusion Worldwide — TradingView News
Speculative investments, environmental destruction, and scams on innocent people: if you ask a random person what cryptocurrencies and blockchain are for, these are some of the answers they might give you.
Cryptocurrency skeptics have long pushed the narrative that there are no real ways blockchain can help ordinary people around the world. This perspective is perhaps understandable, considering that most of the headlines that hit the mainstream media and, therefore, the average person’s mind highlight the more negative aspects of the space.
At the same time, regular people who could benefit from crypto tools might find it a bit overwhelming or risky to dive into the technology. In Episode 40 of The Agenda podcast, hosts Jonathan DeYoung and Ray Salmond talk to two builders working to bring the benefits of decentralized technology to those who need it most: John Wingate, founder and CEO of BankSocial, and Azeem Khan, co-founder and COO of Morph.Coin’s Telegraph
This episode is the last in a series of interviews recorded in person at the Consensus 2024 conference in May.
Bringing DeFi to Credit Unions
Wingate told The Agenda that BankSocial aims to financially empower ordinary people by creating user-centric products for people and credit unions. In his words, part of the project’s founding mission was to foster “the marriage of DeFi and TradFi” by launching “the first Web3-centric credit union,” as well as bring the same capabilities to credit unions around the world.
Credit unions, a type of member-owned bank, are a natural companion to cryptocurrencies because they “align very closely with the ethos of ownership, Web3, decentralized economy,” Wingate argued. And because they are regulated banks, credit unions are allowed to issue stock, giving their members access to crypto products with fewer potential regulatory concerns.
Related: Marisa Rando of PactDAO on Mutual Aid, DAOs, and Activism: The Agenda Podcast
Wingate believes that bridging the gap between traditional finance and decentralized finance allows people to enjoy the benefits of both in harmony:
“BankSocial is about creating a platform that regulated financial institutions can implement as a complete platform that connects us to the ownership economy, that connects a regulated TradFi institution with all its connectivity to the central bank rails that are needed.”
Building an L2 for Value-Driven DApps
Khan jokingly acknowledged that Morph, an Ethereum layer 2 for value-driven decentralized applications, is “one of 200 L2s that need to be at this point.” However, he told The Agenda that what sets it apart is its focus on “crypto-for-good activities,” such as bringing blockchain to emerging markets, experimenting with crowdfunding mechanisms, and advancing decentralized science.
He pointed to his experience as the son of Pakistani immigrants, learning early on that it was difficult for his parents to send money to the family through traditional payment systems. “It was something that was difficult and it just reinforced the idea of understanding what we need to do for people in developing parts of the world to have access to some kind of infrastructure,” Khan said.
In addition to less cross-border friction, Khan said the transparency and decentralization of public ledgers are another benefit the technology brings to building a better world. And ultimately, Morph is committed to not just talking, but actually doing the work to use cryptocurrency for good:
“Looking at the ways in which this technology can actually be used to empower people globally is something that’s really important to not only think about, which we see a lot of, and it’s been talked about for a long time, but what are the things that we need to do methodically to actually start addressing this problem?
To hear more of The Agenda’s conversations with BankSocial’s Wingate and Morph’s Khan, listen to the full episode on Cointelegraph’s Podcasts page, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And don’t forget to check out the full lineup of other Cointelegraph shows!
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This article is for general informational purposes only and is not intended to be and should not be construed as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.