Cardano’s goals for Africa and the developing world. Charles Hoskinson addresses packed crowd at LSE.
The London School of Economics has a long history of links to Africa. Founded in 1895 four years before the outbreak of the Boer War, the school launched into the debates of the era. Some of the first leaders of newly independent African nations studied at LSE and its progressive and anti-imperialist stance saw the school play a part in the anti-apartheid movement.
There was a powerful case for blockchain in Africa, he argued. Blockchain technology has great potential to unlock the wealth of countries through the tokenisation of natural resources, labour or property. “Tokens aren’t just good for CryptoKitties, it turns out you can do real things with these platforms, so let’s go try that.”
“If you count the locked up liquidity in these countries it’s in the trillions of dollars. It’s a great paradox that there’s tremendous potential value in places and if only it could be accessed and given to the people in some fair way then poverty would melt away and these would become some of the wealthiest countries.”
“So that’s what Cardano is doing for the developing world,” said Charles. “We have a moral obligation to try and explore this tech and get it to as many people as possible.”
The talk was followed by a wide-ranging question and answer session, with questions on everything from the future of blockchain in China, to transaction fees on Cardano, to establishing regulated cryptocurrency businesses.
The audience had a mix of backgrounds, from serious Cardano fans who had watched hours of videos online, to the cryptocurrency curious.
Timo, 27, is a student from Salzburg at Regent’s Business School in London. Having been interested in cryptocurrency for more than a year, he says he’d watched Charles’s Ted talk, seen his interviews and then bought Ada. “The project is very serious compared to others, it’s evident from the team, the web presence and the many interviews Charles has given.”
More information is coming soon on IOHK and Africa strategy and will be outlined by the Director of African Operations, John O’Connor.
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