Making the Case for L2s in Africa
BACKGROUND RESEARCH
Guest Research
- Delegate for Arbitrum & Optimism
Project Research
- Superchain - a network of chains which share security and decentralisation all built on a standard Technology stack, in this case, the OP Stack
- makes it such that each of the chains can work together in an interoperable manner and can be used interchangeably, i.e. what applies to one applies to another
- Gives a scablable, low fee experience
Making the case for L2’s
- Current challenges of applying L1
- Affordability
- Ease of use/scalability
- Potential impact
- Looking ahead based on our current tools
Ep Guide
Intro
- Welcome to Bankless Africa, where we delve deeper into the borderless world of the new frontier. This is Miss Purple and I will be your inquisitive guide on this ever evolving journey. Layer 2s are having a whale of time right now, all puns intended. Specifically, Optimism has a TVL of over $680million as of the 31st of August 2023.
- Before we get into the conversation, if you haven’t already, please do subscribe, whether you are listening via spotify, apple podcasts, Youtube or any other platform, please leave us a comment or a review so we can continue to bring you the kind of content that you want to see & hear moving forward. We will include all the links that we allude to during this episode in the shownotes so be sure to check those out as well.
- On today’s episode we have one of the most OG Bankless Africa core contributor and delegate for both Arbitrum & Optimism, ThinkDecade
Episode Questions
- About ThinkDecade ✅
- History hasn’t been kind to the global south, esp. Africa! Quick overview of how tradfi failed Africa and why it gives Africa no future. ✅
- Traditional finance is the sources of financing obtained from the banking system and/or capital markets (such as bank loans, bond issuances, stock issuances) ✅
- Sékou Touré of Guinea decided in 1958 to get out of french colonial empire, and opted for the country independence, the french colonial elite in Paris got so furious, and in a historic act of fury the french administration in Guinea destroyed everything in the country which represented what they called the benefits from french colonization. ✅
- Despite the largely symbolic break from a colonial history with France, 14 countries have remained indebted to France since their liberation from them in the 1960s: Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Togo, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Guinea Bissau, Equatorial Guinea, Chad, Congo-Brazaville, and Gabon - 85 percent of their foreign reserves have to be put into the France Central Bank ✅
- Do they have to wait for the government to do the things or can they start an economic revolution of their own? ✅
- The Great Promise of Crypto. The advent of crypto and what it means for Africa.
- There is this idea that crypto promises a whole new world of access and opportunity, but a lady who goes by the pseudonym Chiamaka, said “I used to be bullish on crypto because I believed it could liberate Africans financially, Instead, it has managed to do the opposite so far … at least to me and a few of my friends.” - where has it gone wrong? Does this promise still stand? ✅
- Problems everywhere, where’s the promise! Limitations of the L1s and how people even gave up and mocked crypto and it’s promise! ✅
- The reality of gas fees, ease of use/scalability
- Large scale scams - Do Kwon, Sam Bankman-Fried
- Bank runs - Signature, SVB, inevitable connections to tradFi
- We shall overcome, advent of L2s and and how they reinforce the Great Promise. ✅
- What makes L2s like Optimism so phenomenal? What about them represents a potential for a new financial future for specifically the global South?
- Projects like Gitcoin & Farcaster have either operated or migrated to the OP stack, now most recently of course is Base, which has seen ✅
- The Future looks brighter! Quick overview of L2s future ✅
- stream l2fees.info
- Looking ahead based on our current tools
- In 3 words, why are you optimistic about the arbitrary future of financial access in Africa? ✅
- By the time this goes up there will be a written piece accompanying it on a more research based take on L2s, particularly Optimism.
Disclaimer
- None of what we share is financial advice, please do your own research, especially when the space tends to shift so rapidly. ✅
- Nothing is set in stone, there is a world yet to be discovered, and this time, Africa is at the core of the table. ✅