Afghans Use Crypto to Curb Taliban’s Influence on Their Financial Well-Being – Featured Bitcoin News

Afghan residents are reportedly acquiring digital assets that they use to preserve their savings and to diminish the ruling Taliban’s ability to affect their financial well-being. A Bloomberg report said that crypto transactions have doubled in value since the Taliban took control.

Digital Currencies Demand is Rising

According to reports, the demand for Afghan digital currency has increased as people try to prevent the Taliban from seizing their money. In addition, digital currencies are being used to curb the Taliban’s influence on their economic well-being.

A Bloomberg report claims that some Afghans have been looking for stablecoins, such as tether. They are linked to the U.S. Dollar. According to the report, Habibullah Timothyori (26-year-old Afghan) supports claims that his countrymen use digital assets for savings. He claimed:

The demand for cryptocurrency is very high. People used to keep their jewelry and cash under their pillow covers or in the ground during previous crises. This time, they’ve decided to keep it buried in crypto.

Another 26-year old Afghan named Naser Ali claims to have converted the $30,000 he had stashed in his safe into USDT. According to Ali, reports of the Taliban storming homes and confiscating Afghan citizens’ belongings was a key factor that compelled him to convert from fiat to crypto.

Ali stated in his remarks that he regretted having not known more about crypto currencies sooner.

Residents are subject to a 1.5% transaction fee

The Taliban government has apparently suspended secondary education in the country for teenage girls since it took control. It has demanded government employees grow beards. They also have instituted gender segregation within amusement parks. The U.S. Government blocked access to foreign currency reserves worth $9 billion just a few days after militants overthrew the government.

While the return of the Taliban rule has led to a change in Afghan residents’ fortunes, it may have led to the surge in the volume of transactions handled by cryptocurrency exchanges. Maihan is a cryptocurrency exchange which reportedly processes crypto transactions valued at $400,000 per week. This value, according to the report is nearly twice that of Maihan’s prior to the Taliban overthrow.

Maihan and other exchanges claim that despite rising demand, it is difficult for local residents to access digital currencies due to U.S. Sanctions on Afghanistan. Additionally, local residents who purchase crypto currencies from crypto exchanges in their area are subject to a 1.5% transaction fee.

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Terence Zimwara

Terence Zimwara, a Zimbabwean journalist, writer and author who has been awarded the Zimbabwe Booker Prize. His writings have covered the economic problems of several African countries and how digital currency can offer an escape route.