[HN Gopher] Lebanon's underground cryptocurrency market
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       Lebanon's underground cryptocurrency market
        
       Author : giuliomagnifico
       Score  : 33 points
       Date   : 2021-08-25 10:53 UTC (12 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (restofworld.org)
 (TXT) w3m dump (restofworld.org)
        
       | randomopining wrote:
       | Biggest question -- can ETH/BTC completely operate under the
       | table?
        
         | rfd4sgmk8u wrote:
         | There are two things that one needs (in addition to the
         | software, which is free and open source) to connect to the
         | bitcoin peer-to-peer network - Electricity and Internet
         | Connectivity.
         | 
         | Unless states start interrupting either/both, there is no table
         | to be operating under. It just is. It is the table and the
         | chair and the entire economy.
        
           | ndury wrote:
           | Technically you don't even need an internet connection:
           | https://blockstream.com/satellite/
        
             | NicoJuicy wrote:
             | That's for sending messages, not money
        
             | TchoBeer wrote:
             | How are you going to transmit transactions though?
        
               | thebean11 wrote:
               | Transactions are pretty small, as long as you have _some_
               | way to relay data to a party that has an internet
               | connection, you can submit a transaction. The party you
               | submit the transaction to does not need to be fully
               | trusted, worst they could do is not submit it to the
               | network.
        
         | pharmakom wrote:
         | yes, you could trade crypto for cash. there are some trust
         | issues though (will they run off with the crypto AND the cash?)
         | and the fees are high
        
       | 908B64B197 wrote:
       | Lebanon has a pretty large diaspora outside of the country (and
       | with income in real currencies). And the current government is
       | pretty corrupt.
       | 
       | I wonder if the best strategy here isn't for the diaspora to just
       | buy back the country for pennies on the dollar during the current
       | collapse.
        
       | counternotions wrote:
       | There's always that one guy:
       | 
       | > "That's my reputation," Baasiri said. "Gravity fucks the
       | market."
       | 
       | 5% commissions on transactions though, that's really steep!
        
       | mathgenius wrote:
       | I guess that a similar story could have happened to Greece. Nice
       | to hear that crypto is helping people in such dire need of
       | economic stability, although it was not clear from the article
       | what happens to the lebanese cash that was used to purchase USDT.
       | Someone must be left holding the bag, there must be some FX
       | liquidity that they tap into?
        
         | imtringued wrote:
         | If I were to summarize the Greek situation it is a story about
         | two countries that hate each other but share the same currency.
         | Unfortunately there is no more nuance to be had. It really is
         | that simple.
        
         | sonofajojo wrote:
         | Think of it as a remmitance system, relatives overseas send
         | money to family in lebanon in bitcoin, these individuals but it
         | off them for cash, they also sell bitcoin to anyone who
         | liquidates local assets for cash and wants to gtfo of Lebanon.
         | Crypto is basically keeping the market somewhat liquid at this
         | point.
        
       | imtringued wrote:
       | Let's say you build the perfect monetary policy into a
       | cryptocurrency. Okay, now the basic institution of money is
       | working again but what about everything else?
       | 
       | >Over the last two years, Lebanon has been gripped by an economic
       | death spiral, the culmination of years of government corruption
       | and mismanagement. The electricity supply has collapsed,
       | pharmacies and gas stations are empty,
       | 
       | The article mentions infrastructure. First, how do you use
       | cryptocurrencies with limited access to electricity? Second, how
       | does cryptocurrency help with physical infrastructure? Have there
       | been successful cases of countries with private infrastructure?
       | Has there ever been an ICO to pay for a cell phone tower or a
       | solar farm?
        
       | robarker wrote:
       | Being in a third-world country and part of the crypto community
       | feels so liberating. You can feel the difference between you and
       | a non-crypto person.
        
       | contingencies wrote:
       | Crypto supporters will talk about how great this is. But is this
       | what we want the world to look like? It's effectively a network
       | of little mafiosi (complete with thugs) providing tenuous bridges
       | to the US economy.
       | 
       | In a cynical moment, despite the idealist beginnings, it's almost
       | like Satoshi was the NSA and global fiscal integration beyond
       | conventional reach of multinationals and the world bank was the
       | objective. Sigh.
        
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       (page generated 2021-08-25 23:02 UTC)