How crisis-hit Afghans are using crypto to pay for daily needs

cnbctv18.com:

The people of Afghanistan have reportedly turned to cryptocurrencies to tide over the financial crisis that struck following the Taliban's occupation of their country last August. From cash shortages to the shutdown of banks and other financial institutions in an economy that depends primarily on cash transactions, the list of troubles was unending.

With non-governmental institutions like the Western Union and SWIFT stopping operations, the only way out for them to transfer funds seemed to be cryptocurrencies.“You can trade back and forth, send it overseas or receive it overseas, without ever touching banks, without touching the Afghan government or Taliban,” pointed out Sanzar Kakar, an Afghan American raised in Seattle who has worked on commercial projects in Afghanistan, to The Intercept. “It’s all on the blockchain network.”“We can’t get money through banks, but 88 percent of Afghan families have at least one smartphone,” said Kakar.The rise of crypto in AfghanistanMany Afghans are said to have turned to crypto trading to meet their financial needs after the Taliban takeover, and this has led the country to gradually climb up the ladder in terms of overall crypto adoption.

As per Chainalysis’ Crypto Adoption index, Afghanistan ranked 20th among 154 countries during the crypto boom of 2021. And in terms of peer-to-peer trade volume specifically, Afghanistan jumps to seventh place in terms of crypto adoption.“Afghanistan on top makes sense from a capital controls point of view, given it’s hard to move money in and out,” explained Boaz Sobrado, a London-based fintech data analyst, while talking to CNBC.Google Trends also supports the notion of crypto gaining ground in the country.