How bitcoin is helping civilians escape Sudan's civil war
In Europe, most people see bitcoin as an interesting investment or a good store of value. However, its value only becomes fully apparent in situations where conventional money ceases to work.
For example, it could be South Africa, where people don't have access to banks and bitcoin allows them to send and, more importantly, store their money safely. The usefulness of bitcoin has also been demonstrated in Sudan, where civil war recently broke out as a result of power struggles between two generals seeking to take control of the country. Years of economic problems and currency inflation have also contributed to the escalation of the conflict. The country's banking system has collapsed and bitcoin has quickly become a full-fledged substitute for many residents there. Indeed, the advantage of bitcoin is that no company has to come in and build or construct any infrastructure. All you need is the internet and an app on your phone. So local residents have quickly started using bitcoin and it helps them when their banking system is down.
A quick insight into the conflict in Sudan
The current conflict in Sudan has been provoked by two generals who are seeking to take control of the country. In 2019, Generals Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo and Abdel Fattah Abdelrahman al-Burhan worked together to topple the dictatorial regime. But they are currently fighting for power over Sudan, and their power struggle is slowly igniting a civil war. The situation is very serious, and the unrest has already caused the death of a number of people there. Civilians have limited access to food and water. In addition, almost no large humanitarian aid organisations are operating in the capital. The capital, Khatoum, is the worst affected by the unrest. The conflict may also negatively affect neighbouring states and cause regional instability. The world powers, which include Russia, are interested in Sudan for geopolitical reasons and are directly or indirectly involved in the conflict.
https://twitter.com/Reuters/status/1647818416865308672
There was also a now notorious group of mercenaries in Sudan called the Wagners. The head of this group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was also accused of illegal gold trading in war-torn Sudan. The presence of the Wagnerites clearly shows Russia's interest in this conflict. The conflict is accompanied by daily street shootings and explosions that make it difficult to get food and water to the affected areas. According to recent reports, one of the warring parties has even seized a laboratory with dangerous materials, which poses a major risk. On one side of the conflict is the commander of the Sudanese army and de facto president of the country, Abdal Fattah Burhan. On the other side is the head of the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), Muhammad Hamdan Dagalo. This is therefore not a conflict between religious or political camps; it is merely a power struggle between two men that has already left hundreds of people dead and thousands more injured.
Bitcoin replaces the dysfunctional Sudanese money
One of the stories where bitcoin helped get a family out of a war zone is one shared by a Sudanese man living in Ireland. He describes how he was unable to send money to his family to travel out of Sudan because the banking system there had collapsed. His parents would have had nowhere to withdraw the money and, moreover, its value would have been very small. When tensions escalated further, SudanHODL decided to pay his family's way to safety using bitcoins. He made a deal with an unnamed source there who accepted bitcoins. As soon as SudanHODL's parents boarded a bus from Khartoum to the Ethiopian border, he transferred the bitcoins into the wallet of the merchant, who paid for the parents' trip in the local currency. The bitcoin transaction went smoothly, of course, and within minutes the recipient could see the transaction in his wallet. SudanHODL used bitcoin to help his family start a new life. It was all done online, without a third party taking a huge percentage for fees, and most importantly, quickly.
Another aspect is that a family with cash could be exposed to the safety of thieves and could lose their money, and even their lives, during the trip. SudanHODL was inspired by his family's situation and began organizing meetings and training sessions on bitcoin. The Sudanese community around the world began supporting refugees and people on the ground helping civilians survive this difficult time. Together they founded the Bitcoin Sudan project, which currently has over 2,000 followers on Twitter. According to user SudanHODL, the community has helped many people flee since the outbreak of the unrest. Also in Sudan, there are traders, exchangers, miners and ordinary people who buy bitcoin and therefore it is possible to pay with it in many places. The Bitcoin Sudan community is also organizing a bitcoin fundraiser for Sudanese medical staff on the Geyser.fund platform, which you can contribute to using the Lightning Network. The funding helps in an extremely poor situation regarding medical equipment in a place where there is almost no humanitarian aid. Doctors cannot buy equipment or medical supplies. Bitcoin helps bypass the broken financial system in Sudan and bring financial support directly to where it is needed most.
The conflict has decimated the Sudanese economy
Sudan has been under interim military rule since 2021 after the previous government was overthrown in a military coup. Since then, the military junta has largely controlled the Sudanese government, while the paramilitary organisation RSF has largely controlled the local economy and agriculture. The situation escalated after the two aforementioned generals failed to agree on the terms of their joint operation. Since then, access to banking services in the country has steadily declined. The situation is particularly bad in the countryside, where people work 16-18 hours a day and yet do not have a salary large enough to cover their living costs. In addition, both warring parties offer a relatively high fee for joining the armed forces and many people volunteer for the conflict in order to have money to live on. Unfortunately, however, the armed men of both sides rob the homes of people who keep most of their savings in gold or US dollars. So Bitcoin has once again emerged as one of the safe means of protecting the savings of the local population. According to SudanHODL, the adoption of bitcoin and stablecoins has been gradually increasing since the beginning of the conflict. Indeed, cryptocurrencies have proven to be a great solution to a bad financial situation.
SudanHODL points out that people there do not consider bitcoin an investment, but use it as a functional means of exchange. In fact, bitcoin does not need any intermediary and the local population just needs to install an app and get a wallet address. Others can send funds to their address, which the recipient can then use when needed. Moreover, there is no middleman in these transactions to embezzle the money or charge unnecessarily large fees. The money always goes to where it is needed. You can also support the project through the crowdfunding platform Geyser.fund. There are a number of interesting charity projects that people from all over the world can support quickly and anonymously using the Lightning Network. What's more, they don't have to rely on any third party, and individuals and various groups bringing humanitarian aid to troubled areas around the world choose to help. A number of these organizations have been direct bitcoin for a long time and the wallet addresses can be found directly on their websites. In fact, bitcoin can help where the regular financial system doesn't work and there are no organizations to help in a troubled area.
You can support me via Lightning Network: nostradamus@walletofsatoshi.com
Original post: BTCTip.cz