An op-ed piece about how cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies can aid the humanitarian relief effort recently appeared in a top U.S. political website, The Hill, by Ryan Taylor, CEO of Dash Core Group.
Mr. Taylor started off by mentioning how there are 134.1 million people around the world in direct need of humanitarian aid, but only 96.2 million people are set to receive aid in the coming year. Ryan then mentioned how the “decentralization and immutability” of blockchains will allow “philanthropic organizations to accurately assess the exact size and the scale of the current humanitarian effort”. Ryan emphasized how having a better understanding of the problem will allow the development of better solutions.
Ryan further mentioned how blockchains offer the chance to “store identity, financial, and reputational information on a decentralized ledger”, which is integral for the “estimated 1.1 billion people in the world without government-issued identification” and “estimated two billion labeled as ‘unbanked'”. Ryan elaborated on how storing identification information on the blockchain will allow individuals previously unable to build credit, receive federal funding, or get a loan to now do so. Finally, Mr. Taylor discussed how cryptocurrencies offer a chance to further revolutionize the humanitarian aid sector.
Cryptocurrencies offer independent stability
Ryan examined how many individuals that need humanitarian aid often live in countries with “rampant fluctuations in national, or fiat currency”. He cited Venezuela as an example since it has recently suffered from inflation up to 13,000% and has 82% of the population currently living below the poverty line. Ryan then discussed how cryptocurrencies operate independently from centralized fiat currencies and thus give humanitarian organizations the ability to “provide more substantive guarantees in the longevity of their aid”. He also added that cryptocurrencies offer the humanitarian process more transparency since transactions can be seen on the public ledger.
Mr. Taylor then reviewed how Dash is working “to educate those in developing countries about the benefits of cryptocurrency as a reliable economic alternative to transact and store value”.
“Dash has created a significant presence in Venezuela due to the country’s ballooning inflation and economic instability; we’re currently accepted by nearly 400 merchants in the country, ranging from grocery stores to restaurants and utility outlets.”
Mr. Taylor added that blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies offer humanitarian institutions “an innovative solution that is not only scalable, but targeted to each individual in need, when they need it most.” His comments highlighted how Dash has leveraged its comparative advantages to further the innovation available to humanitarian organizations and people in need.
The structure of Dash enables greater education and adoption
The DAO and treasury of Dash allows for professionally funded developers and community outreach specialists to become the face of Dash, as voted on by the community. This structure enables organizations like The Hill to feature an op-ed article by Ryan Taylor, CEO of Dash Core, to speak about the advantages and solutions that cryptocurrencies and Dash offers to the world. This feature is also demonstrated by Dash’s numerous other organizations such as Dash Embassy D-A-CH in German-speaking Europe, Dash Venezuela and Dash Caracas in Venezuela, Dash Help across Latin America, Dash Hub Africa and Dash Africa throughout countries in Africa, Dash Force News throughout the world, and many more.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, the structures and organizations mentioned above enables Dash to have greater outreach to educate individuals about how Dash works, how Dash provides solutions to their problems, and how to use Dash. For individuals in need of humanitarian aid, Dash is able to accommodate their needs for a fast, inexpensive, reliable, and secure mode of currency so they can acquire the goods and services they need to build a better life. This is why a Venezuelan NGO recently started accepting Dash to help feed deprived Venezuelan children. These features propel Dash closer to its goal of becoming a global peer-to-peer payments system since Dash can provide the necessary solutions in a very user friendly format to overcome the switching costs from traditional fiat currencies.
