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Afghans will leverage crypto assets as a store of value and to preserve financial privacy amid the dramatic Taliban insurgency, predicts Charles Hoskinson.
In an interview with CNBC on Wednesday, Charles Hoskinson, Ethereum co-founder and Cardano founder, expressed his expectation that "cryptocurrencies will play a bigger role in Afghanistan in the war for and against Taliban forces. "
Hoskinson highlighted the need for financial privacy preservation technologies in Afghanistan.
Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson believes that digital assets can play an important role in providing financial privacy to Afghan citizens following the withdrawal of US forces. "
“The digital life of Afghans is now under scrutiny, the last two decades are being reviewed by a regime that if you express your opinion in a way that does not fit their regressive views you are now under threat of harassment, imprisonment or even death. "
Although concrete assumptions about how cryptocurrencies will benefit Afghan society were slim, adopting digital assets would allow Afghan citizens to circumvent attempts by the Taliban to track personal expenses or confiscate their crypto assets.
Using digital assets as a store of value could also provide protection against inflation, with some analysts speculating that Afghanistan could soon face a hyperinflationary crisis.
While many local bank accounts have been frozen at the behest of international aid organizations and the United States, Western Union also suspended its services in the country until further notice last week, limiting the means available to Afghan nationals seeking to transfer. its assets internationally.
"Western Union understands the urgent need for people to receive funds, and we are committed to resuming operations for our customers in Afghanistan when conditions permit," the company said in a statement.
There are already many organizations that have moved to accept cryptocurrencies in an effort to facilitate the financing of basic needs and health care for the Afghan people.
Cryptocurrency adoption appears to have been on the rise in Afghanistan in recent years, with the country currently ranked 20th according to Chainalysis' Global Cryptocurrency Adoption Index 2021.
Other developing countries, such as Venezuela, Vietnam, the Philippines, and neighboring Pakistan, also dominate the adoption ranking, suggesting that digital assets are seeing significant adoption in countries with poor financial infrastructure.
