The last decade has seen one challenge after another — financial crises, political turmoil, to name a few. There are several use cases for Bitcoin. One use case in helping journalists, activists, and people under sanctions and hyperinflation.

Human Rights activists and journalists have used Bitcoin for funding, to buy resources, or to stay under the radar. They can do this because of the pseudo-anonymous nature of Bitcoin.

Recently, I attended Las Vegas Blockchain Week and San Francisco Blockchain Week. The conversation was primarily this currency over that currency. Or regulation or what innovations were coming.

Since Bitcoin began its meteoric rise in 2016, there has been the hope that crypto would make HODLers and investors rich. But, should that be our focus? Or should we be focusing on how can we get crypto to the people who need it?

If we want to live up to what Satoshi wrote, we need to find more ways to get crypto to people that need it. People in the United States and similar countries may use crypto, but some countries NEED crypto.

There are over five billion people in the world with smartphones, five billion who can potentially use crypto. 

Sure, there are use cases that we in the 1st world know and can understand. Edward Snowden has said that he used Bitcoin to purchase the tools he used to get the word out on government surveillance. Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, has been a long supporter of Bitcoin. In 2010 Wikileaks supporters, blocked from sending funds through PayPal, Visa, and MasterCard, began using Bitcoin.

What about the protester in Hong Kong, shop owner in Caracas, taxi driver in Nairobi, the migrant? Don’t think they have a better use case for cryptocurrency? DASH has become popular in Latin America, particularly Venezuela and Colombia.  Mexico has a growing tech sector and cryptocurrency & blockchain technology is front and center. 

Apps like DASH Text & CoinText removing the need for smartphones to be able to use crypto. With DASH Text and CoinText, users are able to send and receive crypto via SMS Text.

There is a long-standing tradition of demonizing Bitcoin and those who use it as nothing more than criminals. We continue to hear claims only criminals or those who want to avoid paying taxes using Bitcoin. 

It is easy for Americans and other “1st world countries” to disregard the potential of Bitcoin. We have the luxury of a stable financial system. That our credit cards will work, that the store on the corner will accept the local currency without question. 

Credit cards are easy to use but they require a third party to work. In cases like WikiLeaks or Pornhub, what happens when that third party decides not to let transactions go through?

Do we really want to live in a world where our money is controlled by someone else? We have for so long because we did not have an option. We have an option now, it’s called Bitcoin.

As the fear of recession grows in the United States. It is only a matter of time before the public’s attention will turn to Bitcoin.

While we may not need Bitcoin today, tomorrow we might.