In the midst of this heavy crypto winter, the local currency of Lebanon has lost around 95% of its value, banks are shutting down, and the populace is surviving on Bitcoin.
In Lebanon, the local currency has lost more than 95% of its value, pensions are worthless, banks shutdown, and ATMs are out of cash.
People are surviving with #bitcoin pic.twitter.com/aeIwriiq9m
— Documenting ₿itcoin 📄 (@DocumentingBTC) November 27, 2022
On the 27th of November, a Twitter account named DocumentingBTC shared a news piece by CNBC. With the Lebanese government’s economic decisions, the value of the Lebanese currency has lost so much value that savings, pensions, and banks have completely lost value. Added to all this, the country is plagued by unemployment and poverty.
With the recent stories of the crypto industry being unfortunate. Ranging from the crash of LUNA up to the implosion of FTX. the Ponzi schemes, the hackers and scam artists that seem to be lifting millions from users, you would think the world would wash its hands of cryptocurrencies by now.
Yet the opposite is the case. The view of die-hard crypto enthusiasts and diamond hand holders is that the industry is just going through a phase, one it will soon get out of to usher in Crypto-summer. And whole countries are adopting this mindset.
And it seems even the Citizens of Lebanon are now joining the fray, relying heavily on Bitcoin’s decentralized nature to insulate themselves from the economic crash, carrying out transactions in BTC and Tether.
With their money locked in the banks, constantly losing value. Banks are not disbursing cash, and the few are taking a huge chunk off the top. It makes sense to divert to a financial system void of the influence of politicians, governments, or corruption.
They are also taking up BTC mining, powering it with hydro-powered electricity. This has helped open up some employment opportunities for some, and investment opportunities for others. And without official statistics displaying the rate of crypto use in the country, anecdotal evidence shows a massive adoption rate for BTC and Tether.
Businesses and service providers have taken up the practice of accepting cryptocurrencies as forms of payment. And though it might not be official, the future of BTC seems to be looking up.
