2 mins read Cryptocurrencies have allowed young Afghans to make a living and avoid the worst of international sanctions levied against the newly installed Taliban regime in the country.
Dozens, if not hundreds, of people have said they have been able to continue making a living avoiding the overburdened local FIAT currency by turning to crypto, according to Agence France-Presse.
Many NGOs have followed the example of Code to Inspire, a non-for-profit operating out of the US to provide money to Afghan women, and used cryptocurrency to get money to the people who need it most.
Fereshteh Forough, who spoke to Al Jazeera about her project, is a proponent of equal rights for women in Afghanistan. Once the Taliban rolled in, Forough knew that she would need to do something different to get money to her pupils back in the country.
Forough moved out of Afghanistan in the 1980s and went to the US. After her story grabbed headlines a few months back, the Code to Inspire way of providing funds for its pupils has evolved. The organization is currently favoring the use of BUSD, a stable coin whose value is equivalent to the US dollar.
While liquidity is still an issue, the BUSD has proven a powerful utility token which has allowed tech-savvy Afghan women to provide for their families.
Al Jazeera interviewed Hamidullah Temori, a forex dealer who is taking up cryptocurrency as more people have come asking for crypto over FIAT. According to Temori, the overall number of crypto transfers to and from Afghanistan have increased by 80% since the Taliban came to power.
Crypto has helped those tech-savvy Afghans, but the rest continue to find it difficult. Some point out that crypto has been long in the making and it is finally paying off as a viable currency rather than it becoming an emergency response for citizens living under an oppressive regime.
In the meantime, crypto has been used extensively for recreational purposes around the world. Websites such as Bitcasino, 1xBit and FortuneJack are some of the busiest entertainment venues that support crypto.
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