In the six years since war broke out in Syria, 11 million people, a figure representing over half of the original population, have been displaced from their homes. This makes up only a fraction of the some 65 million people currently displaced worldwide. This wave of people on the move has tested the willingness of countries around the world to open up their borders and has sparked a polarizing debate - this you've already heard a lot about.
But what you maybe haven't considered is how these persons deal with their finances.
Put yourself in the shoes of a Syrian refugee for a minute. Imagine a violent war rages into your town and you are forced to flee your home suddenly for the safety of your family. You hurriedly pack what you can and get moving. Perhaps your network of family and friends in the country have been displaced themselves, so you have no good alternatives there. You decide to try to leave and make a better life elsewhere.
You were forced to leave in a hurry, though. The only money you have is the cash you are carrying on you. You don't have identification and proper documentation to help you get established in a foreign land. When you arrive to a new country, you try to open a bank account, but are denied because you do not have the proper identification. Without a bank account, you cannot get a job and rent a place to live. You end up homeless and in debt, living on the street.
That scenario has played itself out in many countries where refugees have tried to establish themselves. And it isn't always just refugees that have this problem - it can affect impoverished persons in even the wealthiest of nations. In fact, as many as 2 billion people worldwide may lack the means to be included in the traditional financial system.
But what's the solution to the problem?
Enter Balázs Némethi
Balázs is a good friend of mine from Hungary that I met shortly after I moved to Oslo, Norway in the fall of 2015. About 15 months ago, Balázs and I were sitting on the sofa at our friend Oliver's apartment, chatting about our latest ventures and adventures. When it came time for Balázs to share his plans, he hit us with something like this:
I'm probably going to quit my job and start a bank for refugees. It's going to be based on Blockchain.
My response:
Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on a second there Balázs. What do you mean a bank? Doesn't that have all kinds of bureaucratic red tape associated with it, and don't you kinda need lawyers and money and such to start one? And what the hell is a block chain? I've never heard of that. I don't understand. (Brain explodes.)
Yes, this was indeed the first time I'd ever heard of blockchain technology, so you might say it was a first step towards my new fascination with crypto. But, more importantly, it wasn't just hot air Balázs was talking - he really had an idea and intended to follow through with it.
Taqanu, the Bank for All
Shortly after our sofa session, Balázs put in his 3-months notice at his job here in Oslo, and in April of last year, the new project was launched. The logo above was developed and he decided to call it Taqanu. As explained by Balázs:
If you look at the Taqanu logo, every part of it is symbolic: it resembles a chain because of the blockchain. The way the squares transform into curves displays the digital transformation. And, the name, in an ancient Akkadian language means: “to be safe”.
The main premise behind Taqanu is that, in lieu of using traditional forms of government-issued ID (which many displaced persons lack), bank accounts could be opened based upon a "digital footprint" consisting of everything from location history, Facebook friends, photos, and more (heck, maybe even Steemit posts!). This information would be securely stored in a blockchain and would serve as proof that you are who you say you are when you go to open a bank account.
Pretty creative thinking, eh?
In the year since, Balázs has been working feverishly towards making his vision a reality. He's moved from Oslo to Zurich to Berlin for strategic reasons, networked extensively both with potential development and investment partners from around the world, and tirelessly promoted his concept to raise awareness about the problem and his novel solution. He's been invited to present his concept as a speaker at conferences like Impact CEE Wroclaw, EIC 2017, and last week's G20 forum in Berlin. He's been nominated as a Young Real Leaders Visionary Leader. And Taqanu has been featured in numerous publications in several countries, including Fast Company, CEE-Fintech, BankNXT, Yakuzuzu, Dagens Perspektiv, PSFK, Enorm and Bankier.
So, yeah, Taqanu is kind of a big deal.
How YOU can help me to help Balázs to help refugees!
Developing a startup project is a demanding task with no guaranteed payoff. I'm sure many here in the Steemit community know that from personal experience. It's more than a job - it's a lifestyle when you are pursuing a passion project.
For Balázs, he left a comfortable architecture job in Norway over a year ago in order to fully focus on Taqanu and the goal of getting financial inclusion for everyone. The project has grown tremendously and gained a lot of traction, but it is still in the early stages. This means that Balázs has been living off of savings to get by day to day until Taqanu is able to officially launch, hopefully with backing of an investor that allows Balázs to finally receive a salary for all of his hard work.
In his own words:
I did travel a lot - YES! And I have had the chance to meet and chat with incredible people from every corner of the word. Keep in mind it came at a cost. Little comfort or stability with uncommon working hours and rushed decisions. I lived in 6 rooms for at least 1 month, and due to constant travels I had no chance to build deep relationships with locals. If given the chance, I would do it again.
As this is a project that I believe in tremendously and want to support Balázs in his ongoing quest to see it through, I'd like to call on the Steemit community to help me raise money for the cause. Taqanu is not a charity organization, however, and it is not seeking to be crowdfunded, so what I'd like to do is publish a series of posts this week not only about Taqanu but about some other adventures Balázs and I have been on (adventure is my game, after all) during the short time that we both lived together in Oslo. At the end of the week, when I am able to claim rewards on the posts, I would like to make a personal donation to Balázs in the cumulative amount that they have earned (with possible matching donation from myself up to a certain amount), in order to assist him through the startup phase and reward him for his efforts and dedication to a noble cause.
I'm also doing this because I believe the Steemit community is full of good people, many of whom will especially appreciate Balázs' novel application of blockchain technology to solve an important problem in our global society. I know that the crypto community has backed a wide variety of good causes in the past (including many on Steemit), and I'd love to see Taqanu be the next.
So please help me by Upvoting and Resteeming this post and telling your friends about Taqanu!! Thanks!
I can also count donations of STEEM or SBD if anybody prefers to contribute that way :)
And of course, if the Taqanu objective really strikes a chord with you and you have other ways in mind that you could/would like to contribute (connecting Balázs to people who can help, etc.), please feel free to contact him directly at this link:
https://www.taqanu.com/contact
Cheers!
Mike V.
Adventure Every Day
Great stuff. I hope more people see the potential for blockchains to serve the unbanked.
Thanks lukestokes couldn't agree more!
I think Balaz is God sent.Putting interest of others in any business to me sounds like a task from Above.
I'm no preacher,but it says in all the holy books care for the destitute,provide for the needy.
I'm in Africa,Nigeria and this post hits me with all passion to try and help this movement you and Balaz started.
Raise a glass for a cheerful soul @adventureevryday and #balaz where ever he is!
Hi oluwoleolaide thank you very much for your kind words! Balázs is indeed a kind spirit and incredible person for taking on this challenge. I cannot take any credit for starting the movement, merely trying to contribute in a small way to helping it become a reality.
I would definitely encourage you to stay tuned to the progress Taqanu makes and spread the word especially if you or anyone you know has personally been affected by this.
i will mate,i just followed you....we should be in touch often
Sounds good my friend, I've followed you back :)
meep
This is INCREDIBLE! This is exactly the kind of thing I want to be a part of and support, not just on Steemit but within my career as a fellow entrepreneur. I am SO happy I came across your article and can't wait to read more. This is the stuff I live for. I'm currently looking for a full-time job and I've decided that I'm not going to narrow it down to a field, rather I want to focus on the umbrella of social entrepreneurship, and seeing what Balázs is doing with Taqanu is just the kind of thing I would move across the world just to work on because I believe in its benefit with all my heart. Wow. I'm so glad I connected with you on here!
Hi auroralyrayoga thanks so much for reading, commenting, and your positive energy! I'm happy to hear that you have an ambition to work on something impactful. Follow your dreams and passion, work hard, and you will achieve great things. And you've definitely found the right community for support - I think you will really love the positivity of your fellow Steemians on here!
Yes! It's crazy how much information is here and how many resources there are! I went ahead and messaged your friend on his website and just wanted to let him know I'm down to help out in any way possible. It's so exciting to witness and be at the forefront of some amazing social changes through technology. I am SO glad you wrote about this/ I told ALL my friends about it today! Much love :)
Thanks for spreading the word and for your support :) Taqanu is a young project but who knows what it will turn into. There's a lot of other great projects being worked on by Steemit users as well. For example, here's a cool one I saw the other day from @hitheryon:
https://steemit.com/growth-projects/@hitheryon/support-steem-park-official-launch-of-the-first-steem-powered-community-garden-in-brooklyn-ny
Whoah! That is SO cool! Thank you for sharing sir :)
How the blockchain should be utilised! Thank you
Thanks wreckognize I totally agree!
Will be following your closely, please keep us updated
Will do, thanks!
Solid objective. Resteemed.
Thank you so much stellabelle, very much appreciated!!!
Nice post and obviously trying to fill a need.
Thank you very much team101! Yes, this is something that is easy to overlook. I never gave it much thought until my friend enlightened me on the subject.
Very interesting. Good job. Upvoted and tweeted:
Wow bart2305 thank you so much for the shout out!
Disclaimer: I am just a bot trying to be helpful.
Sounds good. It might be helpful to look at Polybius Bank, Estonia's first blockchain bank.
Thanks johano I will check that out! Im sure Balázs has encountered that on his journey.
Cheers!
Sounds like Humaniq. And of course it's a great thing! I'd love to look at how much you've achieved and probably be a part of it if it can really help. I may not have much but hey I have a voice, because Taqanu needs to be heard by everyone especially those who have nothing in the material world.
Thanks so much for your support awesomianist! Please do spread the word. Perhaps there is a similar project out there being worked on, but a little competition is a good thing to drive progress, and this is something that needs to get done!