Fernanda Orduña Rangel Discusses Decaf’s Decentralized Financial Solutions

Fernanda
Orduña
Rangel,
co-founder
of
Decaf,
recently
discussed
the
impact
of
her
wallet
app
on
financial
freedom
in
Latin
America
and
Africa.
According
to

Stellar
(XLM),
Decaf
enables
users
to
hold
value
in
US
dollars
using
USDC
and
invest
their
money,
aiming
to
protect
them
from
inflation
and
devaluation.

Addressing
Financial
Exclusion

Orduña
Rangel
highlighted
her
personal
experiences
with
financial
exclusion
in
her
hometown,
driving
her
to
find
solutions
for
similar
issues
across
Latin
America.
She
noted,
“The
place
where
I
am
from,
for
example,
I
have
seen
and
I
know
what
it
is
like
to
have
a
financial
system
that
doesn’t
work
really
well.
People
are
being
excluded.
They
don’t
have
many
options.
They
don’t
have
financial
freedom.”

She
emphasized
the
widespread
need
for
better
financial
solutions
in
countries
like
Argentina,
Venezuela,
and
Colombia,
where
traditional
banking
systems
are
often
expensive
and
slow.
“I
realized
that
the
technology
was
ready
to
start
building
solutions
that
substitute
the
traditional
banking
system,”
she
added.

Focusing
on
Adoption

Initially,
Decaf
aimed
to
facilitate
everyday
purchases
with
cryptocurrency.
However,
the
team
soon
recognized
the
need
for
broader
adoption
first.
Orduña
Rangel
explained,
“We
focused
on
this
app
where
people
can
invest,
hold
their
value,
protect
themselves
from
inflation
and
devaluation,
which
is
a
huge
use
of
crypto
in
general
and
many
people
don’t
even
think
about
it.”

Expansion
into
Africa

While
Decaf
initially
targeted
Latin
America,
it
has
surprisingly
gained
more
users
in
Africa.
Orduña
Rangel
shared,
“We’re
focusing
in
Latin
America
and
Africa
now.
Initially
we
were
focused
only
on
Latin
America,
but
now
we
actually
have
more
users
in
Africa,
which
was
a
surprise.
We’re
actually
going
this
year
to
Africa.”

She
expressed
her
satisfaction
with
the
app’s
growth
and
its
positive
impact
on
users.
“In
the
moments
that
I
see
someone
tweet
‘I
just
used
Decaf’
and
I
don’t
know
who
this
person
is,
but
they
used
it
and
it
was
great
for
them,
it’s
so
fulfilling,”
she
said,
adding
that
it’s
gratifying
to
know
that
their
work
is
helping
people
solve
their
financial
problems.

Broader
Implications

Decaf’s
success
in
providing
decentralized
financial
solutions
highlights
the
potential
of
blockchain
technology
to
address
systemic
issues
in
traditional
banking.
As
more
users
in
Latin
America
and
Africa
adopt
Decaf,
it
becomes
evident
that
decentralized
applications
can
play
a
crucial
role
in
enhancing
financial
inclusion
and
freedom.

The
journey
of
Decaf
and
its
co-founders
serves
as
an
inspiring
example
of
how
technology
can
be
leveraged
to
create
meaningful
social
impact,
especially
in
regions
where
financial
systems
are
inadequate
or
exclusionary.

Image
source:
Shutterstock