Giving Compass' Take:

• Crowdsourcing development workers and utilizing bitcoin micropayments for projects could be potentially beneficial for the development sector.

• How can bitcoin influence community mobilization within development work?

• Bitcoin is not only appearing in the development sector but in many places across philanthropy. 

Crowdsourcing the participation of workers in development projects and paying them with bitcoin micropayments could be a more efficient way to implement projects, Elizabeth Rossiello, the chief executive officer of BitPesa, said during a panel session at Innovation Summit Africa 2018 in Nairobi, Kenya.

As opposed to hiring an international consultant to implement a development project, crowdsourcing participation could involve a group of local contractors bidding on a project, posting a photo of the progress after a day’s work, and then receiving their daily payment through bitcoin, she said.

But seeing these types of micropayment schemes as a mainstay in the development sector could take some time. A lot of established players are hesitant to enter the realm of digital currencies because they are concerned that digital currencies are volatile and lack a regulatory framework, Rossiello said.

Read the full article about bitcoin in development by Sara Jerving at Devex.