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To keep their wealth and resources safe from the Taliban, citizens of Afghanistan procured a way of using digital assets.
Amidst this time when cryptocurrencies and digital assets are gaining wide acceptance and adoption, where countries all across the world are seeking ways towards them, Afghanistan comes under one of the top 20 countries in terms of crypto-adoption. Afghan citizens have shifted their wealth to digital assets to keep it safe from the Taliban. On top of that, considering the volatility of cryptocurrencies, they did not opt for bitcoin. Instead, they chose stablecoins.
New crypto users who get oppressed by some civil wars find the option to store their valuable assets into crypto assets more secure and grow their income passively by putting them in the form of stablecoin like Tether. Another fresh example is what happened in Ukraine, where the war-facing country has received crypto donations in millions to date. People in Myanmar facing a military regime also turned to digital assets to survive the oppressive situation.
The whole world saw how the Taliban took over Afghanistan after the NATO and US forces left the country and followed the multiple sanctions. These situations are enough to make the economy of the country face worse. It left people to survive in desperation and hunger. America has put checks on foreign exchange reserves worth $9 billion, and the banking system is unreliable to use in such situations. On top of that, Afghan citizens can only avail of the maximum withdrawal of $400 per week.
A few crypto brokerage firms operate in the major cities of Taliban-affected countries because directly transferring bank funds to Binance and Coinbase-like crypto exchanges is almost impossible. Additionally, the bank sanctions have made it more difficult for Afghan citizens to make financial transactions.
Numerous hawala networks were activated in the region where brokers implemented the system to send US dollars to their known addresses in the US, Turkey, and such countries. In return, their connections would send them crypto funds to their crypto exchange accounts. In the meantime, crypto users can also exchange their crypto for cash.
It also raises why customers in Afghanistan are not looking to trade or invest in Bitcoin. They prefer stablecoins to get rid of these situations because it is more secure and not volatile compared to bitcoin due to their backing by dollars.
Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while pursuing his post-graduation major in blockchain development. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing, along with coding. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing skills, and a reliable craft at explaining the concepts such as blockchain programming, languages and token minting. He also frequently shares technical details and performance indicators of ICOs and IDOs.
