Living in the chaos of a deep crisis Folks, Lebanon is turning to cryptocurrencies, new media reports confirm. From earning the income you need through mining and jobs to accumulating wealth and paying in stores, Bitcoin, Tether and other cryptocurrencies are starting to push aside the hyperinflated Lebanese pound and the hard-to-find US dollar. increase.
Before the outbreak of civil war, the capital city of Beirut was once called the ‘Paris of the Middle East’. After the conflict ended, Lebanon has struggled in the past few years to cope with the looming economic and financial crisis.
The country was in crisis in her 2019 and the government defaulted in her early 2020. It was right around the time the Covid pandemic was spreading around the world. Local banks have suffered losses of up to $70 billion, according to Goldman Sachs, inflation is expected to hit 178% this year, according to Fitch forecasts, and nearly 80% of the population has been hit by the United Nations. Living below the estimated poverty line. It’s starting to sound like a source of salvation for some, CNBC notes in its report.
The broadcaster reached out to many local residents for whom decentralized digital cryptocurrencies are a lifeline. Crypto adoption has taken many forms in each case, from mining Dogecoin to earning Bitcoin to using Tether, but all of these Lebanese citizens have made sense to themselves in the current situation. Celebrated access to one type of currency. Their experience is best described in the words of his 27-year-old architect, Georgio Abou Gebrael, of a small town near Beirut. He now makes half of his income from freelance work with cryptocurrencies found online.
Bitcoin gave us hope. I was born in my village, lived here all my life and bitcoin helped me stay here.
Others like Ahmad Abu Daher, a 22-year-old graduate of the American University of Beirut, have recognized the potential of cryptocurrency mining as a profitable venture. did. A little over two years ago, he started minting Ether when the coin still relied on a proof-of-work consensus mechanism. He used electricity generated from a hydropower project on the Litani River in southern Lebanon.
Starting with just three mining his devices, Daher and his friends have established their own crypto farm and now host rigs for others. One of them is Rawad El Hajj, a 27-year-old with a degree in marketing, at the Daher facility where he owns 12 litecoin and dogecoin minting machines and produces He earns over $400.
Lebanon uses Bitcoin, Tether as a store of value and means of payment
Lebanon has replaced fiat currency in payments from abroad, he says accepting US dollars means receiving far less money than was originally sent in pounds. Traditionally reliant on remittances, it accounted for over a quarter of its gross domestic product in 2004. The man withdrew all his money from the bank in 2019 and has since converted 70% of his cash to Bitcoin. Younes told CNBC that he wasn’t too worried about the price ofBTC when asked how reliable is. It reminded me that the leading coin sold for just $3,500 three years ago when the coin was around $20,000.
I have more faith in the coin Tether (USDT). “We started by buying and sellingUSDT because the demand forUSDT is very high,” said Abu Daher, a miner who also offers cryptocurrency exchange services. admitted.
Using cryptocurrencies as a means of payment is prohibited by law, but more and more companies are accepting payments with Tether and other coins. “Coffee that acceptsUSDT as payment He has a lot of shops, restaurants and electronics stores, so it’s useful if you need to spend from your bitcoin savings rather than fiat currency,” Gebrael said. said Mr. Architects relying on crypto to fix monthly budgets.
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