You can say “Blockchain Expert’, Franklin Peters, has an in-depth knowledge of the technicalities of the technology. And in our interview with him, the digital marketer and software developer tells us blockchain is a ‘love at first sight for him’.
The renowned crypto trader and community builder shares some of his experience and proffers more ways blockchain technology can do better.
Before going into the crypto space, Franklin Peters was a student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. And the simplicity of the technology, especially its offerings to payments, was the deal breaker for him.
The crypto aspect and the fact that it could solve the problem of remittance and payments without any form discrimination and restriction. In fact, I saw a lot of possibilities with that, given that Africa is heavily under-banked.
Franklin Peters
With the revolutionary qualities of blockchain tech, Franklin Peters still believes there are some downsides.
“One of the major strengths is the fact that it is censorship resistant, transparent and secure. This provides extra layers of security to the users. On the other hand, the same attributes are its weaknesses in the sense that it attracts a lot of bad players, but this can be curbed if governments can enact crypto-friendly regulations to protect the end-users against those bad actors.”
Boundlesspay
Boundlesspay is one of the leading fintechs utilising blockchain technology. It is regarded as a secure application that turns cell phones into mobile banks. With Boundlesspay, users can spend digital currencies across merchants globally, access crypto loans, pay utilities and invest in digital assets.
According to its founder and CEO, Franklin Peters:
“Boundlesspay came out of the passion for solving key problems in remittance. We decided to utilise BLOCKCHAIN because it’s the only technology that allows us express our creativity without minimal qualification and funding.
“I like to refer to Boundlesspay as a crypto fintech application as it seeks to address problems relating to payments, remittance, and easy user onboarding. We created Boundlesspay to be user-friendly, fast, flexible and fun. This sets us apart from other platforms.“
Franklin Peters on crypto in Nigeria
Apart from being a crypto trader, Franklin Peters is a stakeholder in the Nigerian crypto space. He is the VP of the foremost blockchain association in Nigeria, SIBAN. And Franklin recounts the SIBAN experience as a great one.
“It’s been an amazing journey being part of a community of people with the same values. I’ve learnt, connected, collaborated, and most importantly, it has given me a platform to give back to the industry in my little way.
“The challenge we have generally faced is gaining proper acceptance in the industry as a self-regulatory body. It took quite some time for that to make sense to our community, and with more education, partnerships and exposure, we will definitely gain full acceptance.”
Cryptocurrency is said to be illegal in Nigeria, but SIBAN as a blockchain association has been able to navigate and work with regulators.
“Crypto isn’t legal in Nigeria, yes. The government placed a restriction on banks not to offer services to crypto users, but that doesn’t mean an outright ban. After all, e-Naira is a form of cryptocurrency.
“Given the above, SIBAN always seeks to collaborate and work very closely with regulators to ensure that the service providers in our community are compliant. We also educate our community to maintain saintly use of crypto as allowed within the purview of the law. This has helped us stay afloat, irrespective of the difficult conditions.”
Franklin Peters is the convener of Blockchain Vibes, an event centred around educating crypto and tech enthusiasts about blockchain technology. The premiere edition was held earlier this month, and Franklin Peters says the impact on the African crypto community has been enormous.
“The event had a tremendous impact on the community mostly because we could pull the top global crypto influencers into Nigeria for the first time. That very move opened up the gateway for other foreign crypto players to want to visit and explore Nigeria/Africa. It also proved to the crypto community in that anything is possible.”
Despite the hurdles, Nigeria and Africa have had a fair share of crypto adoption and acceptability. Franklin Peters projects that this trend will definitely continue, and it can only get better.
“…due to how corrupt and under-banked Africa is, I believe Africa needs Blockchain and crypto more than the rest of the world.
“Africa has produced brilliant blockchain products and services as well as smart enthusiasts who have helped shape the face of blockchain technology globally. I have no doubt that in the future, Africa could be the hub of blockchain.”
The future of Boundlesspay and Blockchain Vibes
Just like the internet has done over the years and has added value to the world, I just want to see the space grow, succeed. I believe in building valuable products and services and that’s what led me to build Boundlesspay, Blockchain Vibes and other projects. I’ll keep doing my best to support the space and to see it evolve into something the world can’t resist.
Franklin Peters
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