Excerpt
I talk with Meron Estefanos about the challenges in the Bitcoin space, including the toxicity on Twitter, hodlers who overlook Bitcoin’s use case in Africa, and the disconnect with principles like human rights and inclusivity. Watch now to hear our perspective!
Transcript
Q: Do you see other human rights activists in other African countries adopting Bitcoin?
A: There are many. I mean, like in Ethiopia, there was no one, but now, you know, everyone is using it. In Kenya, for example, when I moved there—or in Uganda, when I moved three years ago—there were almost none. Those who called themselves bitcoiners were also pro-crypto people. So I was like, “I don’t understand. What are you guys doing?” One minute they’re claiming on Twitter that they’re bitcoiners, and then when you see them in Uganda, they’re teaching crypto. There’s no principle.
Q: That sounds frustrating.
A: And also, I’ve seen—my biggest disappointment in Africa, in the continent, is that a lot of people are receiving all kinds of funding for Bitcoin education, but it’s not being used for education. And the companies that are giving away this money are also not holding people accountable. And we also have to admit, there are a lot of bitcoiners who don’t align with human rights values. That’s my biggest disappointment.
Q: How has that affected your involvement?
A: Actually, I’ve decided no more Bitcoin conferences for me. Because I see on Twitter, especially—it made me hate it—I quit Twitter. Since July, I haven’t been on Twitter.
Q: Why did you leave Twitter?
A: Because when I see all the bitcoiners, their standards don’t align with mine. I see a lot of homophobes. Many of them don’t even believe in human rights or democracy. Or women’s rights—very abusive, very misogynistic. Yes, it’s very sad. So that kind of disappointment made me and I said I’m not going to any Bitcoin conferences anymore. I believe this is my last conference here at the ABC, actually, because I’m tired.
Q: That must be disheartening.
A: It’s just—you know, I meet you here, we get along, we are both bitcoiners, and then when I go home and I see your tweets, you’re tweeting something that I’m completely against. Not me personally, but for example.
Q: Right, I know exactly what you mean.
A: Yes. I look at them on Twitter, and then you will see some people. Like, when I tweet about kidnapped refugees, the bitcoiners will use my tweet to say, “Thank you, Obama,” even though Obama has nothing to do with the refugees I’m dealing with. Or they’ll say things like, “Why do you spend your bitcoin? Hold it!”
Q: Exactly.
A: And then you’re like, “But how do you expect to have a circular economy if we’re not spending our bitcoin?”
Q: Exactly.
A: Yeah. Like, when I was in Lugano, I was paying with Bitcoin because there was actually a 10% discount. Any restaurant you go to, you pay in Bitcoin, and it was 10% off. So if we all don’t do that—if all of us are just hodling, then what’s the point of teaching people about Bitcoin?
Q: Oh, the point is, it’s an investment tool, a speculation tool, and we want to get rich with it.
A: We are not intending to support others by using bitcoin, which is our idea—that Bitcoin is a tool for humanity.
Q: Yeah, that’s the thing.
A: So I don’t understand. Because everyone is like, “No, I don’t want to spend my Bitcoin.” But I’m like, whatever you’re spending—okay, keep some for savings. Like, I have savings. I keep my savings which I don’t touch. But I also have wallets just to use on a daily basis. If I go somewhere where they accept Bitcoin, I would like to pay with bitcoin to help the circular economy.
Q: Of course.
A: And the majority of them expect Africans to start using bitcoin and do transactions using bitcoin. But at the same time, for Africans, it’s like, “Okay, it helps for transactions, but if a person is making $40 a month salary, they can barely survive with that. How do we expect these people to use bitcoin?” If you’re not hiring Africans and paying them in bitcoin, don’t expect them to use bitcoin as well. It’s give and take.
Q: But I see the Westerners get happy when you talk about the global South using Bitcoin.
A: But at the same time, if you’re not hiring people, if you have a company, hire someone from Africa. There’s a lot of big talent here. Most companies don’t even come here.
Q: Yeah, but then they want to have the business here.
A: Exactly. You know, so I see a lot of hypocrisy when it comes to using Bitcoin. Like, if everybody is hodling, I don’t see a circular economy.
Q: No. To be honest, I got a little pessimistic over the last one or two years in that regard as well.
A: And I really hope that people get the idea that Bitcoin is money, and it has these properties that you can use all over the world. It’s neutral money. It’s not pro-Trump money. It’s not pro-Michael Saylor money. It’s for everyone.
Q: It’s for everyone.
A: It doesn’t discriminate.
Q: Yeah.
A: But the sad thing is that there’s such a centralization of opinion on Twitter. And this is so tweaked by Elon Musk. I mean, my tweets—people don’t even see them anymore. I don’t have any reach anymore. And I believe it’s because I have a rainbow flag on my profile.
Q: Of course.
A: I get harassed online. You can’t imagine. That’s why I left Twitter, because I’m like—I left before it became X.
Q: Yeah, that’s good.
A: Yeah. And I didn’t want to leave because I have, like, 28,000 followers.
Q: But you’re on BlueSky already?
A: Yes.
Q: I should follow you.
A: Yes, we should follow each other.
Q: Okay. Meron, thank you very much.
A: My pleasure.
