• Josef Tětek attended the inaugural Africa Bitcoin Conference (ABC) in Accra, Ghana and found his experience to be life-changing.
• Prior to the conference, Josef and other Bitcoiners spent an afternoon at the beach engaging locals in conversations about Bitcoin.
• Through this experience, Josef gained a better appreciation for how Bitcoin can empower the unprivileged, the exploited and the suppressed.
Josef Tětek, the Trezor brand ambassador for SatoshiLabs, had the privilege of attending the inaugural Africa Bitcoin Conference (ABC) earlier this month in Accra, Ghana. Josef was already familiar with Alex Gladstein’s vision of Bitcoin as a tool for empowering the unprivileged, the exploited, and the suppressed, but it wasn’t until his visit to ABC that he was able to experience Bitcoin adoption from this perspective.
A day before the conference began, Josef, along with several other Bitcoiners and Hermann Vivier (the organizer behind the south-African circular economy project Bitcoin Ekasi), visited the local beach. After spending the afternoon discussing Bitcoin with locals, Josef and the group discovered that Bitcoin became a very real thing when the locals were shown that they could receive value instantly, without any registration, and immediately spend it on airtime or prepaid electricity. This was when Josef truly experienced the tangible impact that Bitcoin had on the everyday lives of these individuals.
The Africa Bitcoin Conference was an impactful event for Josef, as it served as a reminder that Bitcoin is more than just a financial asset and tool for speculation. He also had the opportunity to meet and interact with individuals who are actively working to spread Bitcoin adoption in their communities, making Bitcoin accessible and understandable to their peers.
Josef’s visit to ABC was an eye-opening experience that highlighted the importance of Bitcoin in empowering the unprivileged and exploited, and it is an experience that will remain with him for a long time. He was reminded that, even though Bitcoin is a complex technology, it can be used for the betterment of individuals, communities, and the world as a whole.