Cryptocurrency has exposed a lot of things happening in the finance world and before I understood how it worked, I thought the banks were really helping us. They are helping us to an extent that involves money security since it is still safe to keep money in the bank regardless of how terrible their operations can be. Understanding crypto has given people the knowledge of how the finance world is being run and that's why crypto will never be accepted in some parts of the world not by the people by Government, they find it fun enslaving and depriving people of their rights.
Many years ago, I experienced a scene at First Bank. An elderly man who happens to be a farmer was shedding tears in the bank, I didn't know what was happening with the man but he was there to withdraw over a million naira. The bank kept pushing him here and there which made him frustrated to the point where he said they should close his account and give him all he had with them. Immediately after the man took it personally, some customers who had the same issue joined him and it was then the manager came down to interfere. He tried taking the man upstairs but he refused and insisted that they gave him all he had with them.
I won't deny that traditional banking has helped a lot, imagine being able to send money to any part of the country, withdraw anywhere, and making payments with cards. All these are things we have enjoyed but crypto currency decentralised nature beats it all and as a matter of fact, cryptocurrency can do everything except that we still need fiat which requires converting crypto to cash and the traditional banks can't be sideline in the process.
Cryptocurrency gives us total control over our money, unlike the banks who happily receive your deposit and find it difficult to release your money back to you. I didn't understand the power of decentralisation until I connected one of my experiences back in higher institution.
Exam was fast approaching and getting my school fee was a huge problem. At the very last minute before the payment Portal closed, I was able to get the money. Someone helped me with the balance and I went to the cyber cafe to make the payment with my card. Every attempt failed and it got me really pissed.
I checked the time and it was a few minutes to the bank's closing hour so I rushed down to the bank to complain and after all the stress, they made it clear that my account had been frozen.
When? Why? I started asking questions but didn't get an answer. I was told to go to the bank where I registered because that was the only place it could be fixed. I didn't believe my ears and explained why it was important they solved the problem but all my stories fell on deaf ears.
Exam was starting the next day and the bank where I opened my account was in another state. I went through hell writing exams for two days and had to travel over the weekend to another state just to fix it and return to school as early as possible on Monday.
What would it have cost them to send a mail or put a call across to the branch? A lot of these things happen every day and for these reasons, traditional banks will never match the decentralisation of cryptocurrency.
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Saving is what many do because of rainy days and I always advise that we should make it a habit no matter how little it can be. With cryptocurrency, we have the option to save in a decentralised system other than the centralised system of banks.
Saving in the decentralised system means saving with crypto while centralised is the usual depositing your money with banks. The two have their benefits but there is one thing that would me choose the decentralised system over and over again.
Keeping the value of my savings.
As a Nigerian, it would be unwise of me to choose a centralised system over saving with crypto. The value of naira has dropped drastically for some years now and it's not getting better. Our currency value keeps depreciating and that makes the value of our savings drop as well at the point of withdrawal.
Let's imagine that dollar was at 500 naira when I started saving in the bank and there was already an increase to 700 at the time of withdrawing my savings, my money has lost value because with the increase in dollar rate, the price of things must have escalated and the same savings won't be able to do what it was capable of doing before.
You might say does the naira depreciate always? It would interest you to know that it was 840naira to a dollar yesterday
I choose to save in crypto because doing that can help me retain the value of my money. You can say the crypto market isn't stable as well which is true but the fact is that I don't have to start looking for coins to buy because there are stable coins that are capable of retaining the value of my money, they resist inflation which is awesome.
Let's imagine I bought $10 of a stable coin like HBD, USDT or any other when Naira was 500. If the naira depreciates more in value, it doesn't affect me because when I withdraw, my $10 will be the current value when I change to fiat.
A lot of people do not understand it while some do but they are scared. Someone once told me that if she saves with crypto and something happens to her money, is there an office she will go to?
The fear of the decentralised system is holding a lot of people back and it's not like banks don't have issues, thinking negatively about crypto is preventing a lot from seeing how helpful it can be. Saving or withdrawing in crypto is perfect because you don't need the consent of people to take your money whenever you need it and as long as you don't make mistakes during transactions, you are good to go.
The traditional banks have a long way to go which I do not see happening because they are indirectly controlled by the government. Giving people complete control over their money in the banks will never happen.
Thanks for reading.