Lebanon: How One Country Is Bringing Forth Bitcoin For Good

Lebanon: How One Country Is Bringing Forth Bitcoin For Good

Recent events in Lebanon highlight just how important cryptocurrency can be for some people. 

After news of the central banks in the nation shutting down in order to prevent a bank run was net with a round of enthusiasm from the crypto commentators. The citizens in Lebanon are no longer able to send foreign cryptocurrencies to other countries, namely dollars and euros.

Ali Askar is currently in the country at the time of writing and said to CD that a few groups on WhatsApp and Telegram have nearly doubled in size over the past 12 months. 

But there is a clear difference between the general population that is being ravaged by conflict and economic political problems and the users of bitcoin.

One anonymous bitcoin trader who lives in the country spoke to CD and said, “Bitcoin will not help the people. It will help the politicians because they are the filthy rich ones who have access to money.” 

He added:

“It [bitcoin] could help them, perhaps, if they were sitting at home with 24 hours worth of electricity and internet, and they could work online to get paid for their online work. That’s a utopian scenario. In Lebanon, the internet is very expensive. Electricity doesn’t come often. We sometimes have electricity for just six hours a day.”

Access is another issue to address. A lot of BTC platforms won’t be serving users in Lebanon meaning bitcoin buyers list cryptocurrency as ‘digital goods’ for paperwork reasons.

“It’s similar to Iran,” the anonymous trader said, adding:

“People and communities suffer [from sanctions] while the elite find alternatives and business continues as usual.”

It will be interesting to see how this situation plays out. For more news on this and other crypto updates, keep it with CryptoDaily!

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