[community] Cryptocurrency and Accessibility (!)

[Feriyal Hallajarani]

Hi,

I'm recently very intrigued by the idea of Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency
Technologies. Although the system itself is really young (It was invented
in 2009, by an unknown person/group of people named "Satoshi
Nakamoto".) and has a long way to go, but it has already attracted lots of
attentions. People no more look at this idea as a financial technology, but
more as a cultural and political shift in the society.

I'm sure so many of you heard that Bitcoin is (or could be) the future of
money. I personally think of all the positive changes that this technology
can make in order to build an inclusive society. Lets make a list of all
the possible barriers that people with different abilities might face
during their day to day use of money:

   - The physical money itself is not accessible at all, some countries
   still don't have braille fonts on the money.
   - Banks and ATM machines are not accessible for people with
   disabilities.
   - When you go to another country, you need to learn their currency and
   do all the math to know the prices. It causes issues for people with
   cognitive disabilities.

And as you know the list can continue with more problems that exist in our
current financial systems.

Now getting back to bitcoin, considering that the transactions take place
between users in different geographical locations directly, through their
"Digital Wallets" and recorded in the "Blockchain", the development of this
system can fix lots of the mentioned accessibility problems in our list.
And not to forget, I find that Bitcoin can save the planet and our last
drops of the natural resources too, as the whole system is digital.

That's why I would love to know your thoughts about Crypotocurrency systems
and accessibility? I would also appreciate if you can share with me any
article you've read related to this topic.

Here is a link if you're more interested to know about bitcoin,
written by Jameson
Lopp, he is a software engineer at BitGo, creator of statoshi.info and
founder of bitcoinsig.com. :
https://www.coindesk.com/nobody-understands-bitcoin-thats-ok/

Thanks and best regards,

*Feriyal Hallajarani *| Sr. QA Analyst for Accessibility  | CIBC Business &
Corporate Banking Technology
55 Yonge St., 12th Floor , Toronto, ON | Tel: (416) 594-8331
Linkedin: https://ca.linkedin.com/in/feriyalharani
Feriyal.Hallajarani at cibc.com
Feriyal.Hallajarani at nttdata.com
feriyal.hallaj at gmail.com