Beautiful Virgin Islands

Monday, Oct 06, 2025

Turning on crypto means turning our backs on vulnerable millions

Turning on crypto means turning our backs on vulnerable millions

Remittances in Bitcoin help vulnerable people in unstable economies, like Afghanistan. Crypto regulation means cutting them off.

Cryptocurrency remittances are now a lifeline for Afghans, after the abrupt US withdrawal led to Western Union temporarily ceasing operations, and banks in the country severely limiting withdrawals.

As regulators in remittance source countries like the US and UK turn their sights to crypto, they should remember how indispensable those currencies are to some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

Crypto will become increasingly indispensable as the local currency - in Afghanistan and elsewhere - becomes not only difficult to access but unreliable as a store of value. Conflict fuels inflation, which makes currencies less valuable, or sometimes worthless.

If we regulate cryptocurrency transfers to appease the crypto hawks at home, we risk turning our backs (again) on those who need this asset class the most; the Afghani people and many others like them.

Afghanistan: A textbook use case for cryptocurrency


With the Taliban takeover comes the freezing of Afghanistan’s financial system too. Foreign aid has halted, which makes up approximately 40 per cent of Afghanistan’s GDP according to the World Bank. Similarly, foreign reserves of the Afghanistan central bank have been frozen, which is approximately $9 billion.

What’s more, in response to the Taliban’s take-over and western countries halting foreign aid, international money transfer companies like Western Union and Moneygram shut off their services (in some cases they have now resumed activity, for now), leaving the average Afghani with no way to engage with the global financial system and crucially no way to receive remittances from relatives abroad.

Remittances, the practice of sending money ‘back home’ from rich countries, makes up approximately 4 per cent of the country’s GDP. In an economy that is so heavily cash-dependent, the sudden crumbling of the local financial infrastructure may well mean the difference between life and death for many Afghans.

For remittances to continue to be a lifeline, they need to be fast. When money is needed, it is often needed instantly. An internally displaced person, for example, cannot wait for 3-5 days whilst funds are cleared; they need food, fuel, and medical supplies today.

Bitcoin ‘maximalists’ make wide-eyed claims about how crypto will change the global economic system. Whether you believe them or not, we can see that crypto has already revolutionised remittances in unstable, conflict-ridden places. Afghanistan presents a textbook use case for cryptocurrencies in failed states.

Crypto use accelerates in countries with hyperinflation


Sometimes, sheer necessity creates the strongest argument for new tech. Afghanistan is 20th on the list of 154 countries in the Global Crypto Adoption Index formulated by Chainalysis, a Blockchain data platform. When adjusted for peer-to-peer transactions (including remittances), it ranks 7th. In 2020, Afghanistan didn’t even make the list.

Afghanistan is not alone. Crypto usage has spiked recently in Lebanon, Turkey, and Venezuela. Those people are not trying to get rich - they are simply trying to receive funds from relatives abroad, and stop their wealth from disappearing at a time of high inflation.

Sending and receiving money through Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies is growing in Afghanistan


Venezuelan-based crypto consultant Jhonnatan Morales has observed, “Many people are mining and trading cryptocurrencies not to acquire products, but to protect themselves from hyperinflation.” Venezuela has the third highest crypto usage in the world. It also has one of the highest rates of inflation (up to 2,940 per cent).

Lebanon is another example. As the Lebanese Lira lost 80 per cent of its value, Lebanese downloads of Bitcoin wallet BlueWallet, for example, grew by 1,781 per cent in 2020, compared with the same period in 2019.

But Afghanistan may be the most urgent and tragic case of why the 'global south' needs crypto. As cash becomes scarce, prices soar and as the Taliban loses the foreign aid the country was previously dependent upon, the already crumbling Afghani currency will get even weaker.

By allowing the Afghani people to receive, store and spend their wealth in Bitcoin, they may be able to protect themselves against the worst effects of a failed state.

Regulation must consider the most vulnerable


And this is what we must remember when we regulate cryptocurrencies in the west. That regulation will not just affect speculators; it will hit those who want to send remittances ‘back home’. Those who receive remittances have the most to lose.

When Federal Reserve chairman, Jerome Powell publishes his report on the next stage of cryptocurrency regulations, I hope that he doesn’t forget those who need cryptocurrency the most; the Afghani people, and millions across the world like them.

Whilst the west may have turned its back on the people of Afghanistan, we need to make sure that our laws don’t continue to leave them in the dark.

We need cryptocurrency regulation that ensures those vital financial lifelines are not. If we do, we are closing another door of hope for the people who need it the most.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
×