I wonder if there's an opposite term for 'leapfrogging' [1], whereby the pace or focus of technology -- instead of allowing poorer countries to skip trends altogether -- it leaves them behind.
An example of leapfrogging is China's payment system which switched directly from a cash-only system to a mobile-payment system in the span of a decade, entirely bypassing the need for credit cards.
I believe that cryptocurrencies, ironically, are leaving the unbanked populace behind by being a payment-only system instead of being a payment-credit system. If Bitcoin is truly successful and replaces Visa and MasterCard -- both of which also operate as a credit system -- then that's just going to result in slower economic growth in underdeveloped countries.
I get your point. Although (as I have touched slightly upon in the article) several crypto-based donation systems exist and some companies are already working on crypto-based lending.
BTW: the only term I can think of is "leaving behind"
Ideally, we would be able to provide modern financial services backed by first world institutions to underdeveloped countries. An example of this came through a podcast I listen to [1].
For the most part, I am skeptical of cryptocurrencies since they need to solve stability and identity first before tackling credit. An additional problem might also be usability; private-public key pairs should be abstracted away to the end user. As for donation systems, I don't think they have the same network effect as credit systems.
An example of leapfrogging is China's payment system which switched directly from a cash-only system to a mobile-payment system in the span of a decade, entirely bypassing the need for credit cards.
I believe that cryptocurrencies, ironically, are leaving the unbanked populace behind by being a payment-only system instead of being a payment-credit system. If Bitcoin is truly successful and replaces Visa and MasterCard -- both of which also operate as a credit system -- then that's just going to result in slower economic growth in underdeveloped countries.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leapfrogging