Topic: BITCOIN IS BECOMING A LIFELINE FOR POLITICAL DISSIDENTS IN MYANMAR (Read 116 times)

Any troubled economy in a particular country should know that they can get an alternative lifeline with bitcoin to evade consequence, the government and their political ambition is worth enough to scatter every organizational settings amidst the populace but when they diverted their dependency from the government to have their own freedom through an alternative financial digital currency with bitcoin, they may not be that affected by their policies nor their economy and financial asset suffer great loss with the traditional currency and economy which is dependent of the government decision.

Bitcoin grows when there are no alternatives other than using it. For example, in African countries, transferring money from Europe to Africa involves a lot of fees and challenges, and you can do it easily with Bitcoin, and then send these currencies to China, Brazil, or any country in North America, with a delay of 10 minutes on average. And fees close to zero.
Therefore, governments and banks do not consider it appropriate, unlike individuals.

It is very terrible situation for  them over  there, it may not be  easy to use  bitcoin well because of the government but bitcoin still remains a better option in  this point of time, more expecially in exchange of goods and services between some group of  persons. Other countries that experienced similar problems bitcoin played a role.

As it is, bitcoin still requires fiat to be functional and as such, the people of Myanmar might still have to sort means to have a functional banking services. What deal of hope the crypto space would have done for them in this time of resistance . This is another reason why centralised systems aren't a perfect one for a free willed society. Those who have control will always use it and what better tool to archive that other than the currency which the rest of us in our world hold dear, fiat.
Well a good number of us have left it behind and only access it occasionally but still, bitcoin hasn't been accepted globally just yet.

Also, the situation  in Myanmar though might contribute to bitcoin boost in price, its most likely not the chief reason why bitcoin appreciated. Its a collective effort of traders around the world.

A similar thing happened when the Russian-Ukraine war started. People started making and receiving donations in Bitcoin and other crypto because the payment was direct across the boarders with no endless loops and exorbitant fees.

It is funny how Governments keep bashing and threatening to ban crypto only for them to turn to the same devil when their countries undergo war, insurgencies or natural disasters.

This is very interesting, but before jumping into conclusion that Bitcoin in on the verge of getting massively adopted in Myanmar, we need to know against which solutions Bitcoin will be competing. Would it be stablecoins like USDT, which offer some of the benefits of Bitcoin but without the volatility. Or maybe people use some centralized electronic currencies? Or just use cash, especially USD. We already have countries like Venezuela, where the monetary situation has been horrible for many years, and they didn't demonstrate high levels of Bitcoin adoption.

Isn't it though that Bitcoin is illegal n Myanmar?

So I don't know how it can grow in the country, and unless you are willing to risk your life buying/holding BTC. Of course, it's a powerful tool, we have seen it being used and it played a interesting role in Myanmar’s revolution as it continues to struggle. Civilians are trapped, governments failed, and everything is in shambles. Hopefully though the military junta or whatever form of government they have will find time to at least a concrete policy on crypto itself. Otherwise, as I have said before, the risk is too high for the population to involved themselves in BTC and crypto in general.

Given the fact that they are literally refugees stuck in their own country, they couldn't really force this change even if they did it gradually. Best thing they could do to make this thing happen is to gather all of their people, have them use bitcoin in secret so as to not rouse suspicion from their government, and then have them also use kyat at the same time, since actually crashing your own currency for a decentralized one, no matter how bad your government is will still be a death wish. Something of the likes has been done in the past, especially by the Philippines during the Japanese Occupation during WW2, so the validity and viability of such strategy is tested, and will work even more since in the past all they had is fiat money they hid under their beds, pillows and floorboards, whilst with bitcoin they can do this without getting traced or anything.

Following a military coup in 2021, resistance groups in Myanmar are in need of an alternative financial solution like Bitcoin. Bitcoin could serve as a better alternative for those in Myanmar who are being cut off from traditional banking services or fear currency devaluation.

Research conducted by the Bitcoin Myanmar Initiative shows that, while the value of the kyat has fallen by over 35% since the military coup, the price of bitcoin has doubled in the same period. Prior to the coup, the price of 1 BTC was approximately 500 million kyat, but it is hovering around 1 billion kyat on Binance’s peer-to-peer exchange as of this writing.

"We believe that the adoption of bitcoin and other digital currencies in Myanmar will be a gradual process, given the current economic environment and the fragile risk tolerance of the majority of people," a representative of the Bitcoin Myanmar Initiative told me. "However, we see the potential for growth due to the country's previous experiences with technology leapfrogging. With a smartphone penetration rate of 78% and only 36% of the population having a bank account, many people in Myanmar are looking for an alternative to traditional banking. By promoting a form of currency that no one can control, we aim to help people reclaim their property rights in a digital way and unleash themselves from the military regime's monetary policy. We believe that it's just a matter of time before more people in Myanmar recognize the benefits of Bitcoin."

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/how-bitcoin-can-save-political-dissidents-in-myanmar?utm_source=carrot&utm_medium=partner&utm_campaign=carrot_share