Cryptocurrencies, according to Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson, would be used to help the Afghan people in times of need.
A CNBC interview with Hoskinson, who is also the founder of Cardano, the third-largest digital asset by market capitalization, was broadcast on Tuesday. He stated that cryptocurrency might be used as a tool to fight terrorist organizations such as the Taliban.
However, he did not go into detail about how cryptography would do this—only that privacy might be something that the country’s residents would find desirable.
“It is my belief that cryptocurrencies are going to play a larger role in Afghanistan this time around, in the war for and against the Taliban forces,” he said. “There is going to continue to be civil war and conflict and they are going to need resources,” he added, noting that crypto was already in Afghanistan.
Since the United States and its allies abruptly and chaotically withdrew from Afghanistan following a two-decade occupation, the use of cryptocurrency, particularly Bitcoin, has increased throughout the country. According to Chainalysis, a blockchain analytics company, Afghanistan has one of the highest rates of bitcoin adoption in the world.
Because of the United States’ withdrawal from Afghanistan, the Taliban has reestablished power, resulting in a large number of deaths, including a suicide attack that killed 13 American service personnel and 169 Afghans last week.
In response to the situation in Afghanistan this week, a number of high-profile Bitcoin proponents made crude jokes, while others made wide-eyed proposals about how cryptocurrency may be used to escape the economic grip of authoritarian regimes.
Similarly, bitcoin presents a chance for the war-torn country, according to Hoskinson. As for how bitcoin “gets integrated into statecraft,” he stated that it would be “interesting” to observe and how it could be used as “resistance against a regime” that “doesn’t care about the rights” of its citizens.
Hoskinson was one of the co-founders of Ethereum, which is the second most valuable cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization. His next venture was the creation of Cardano, which is just one step below Ethereum in terms of market capitalization size.
Following Hoskinson’s announcement that the network would soon contain smart contracts, which are computer code that conducts prescribed instructions, the cryptocurrency climbed to this position lately, with its price rising and reaching all-time high levels.
It is hoped that Cardano will compete with Ethereum as the preferred network for DeFi applications, which aim to eliminate the need for banks and brokers by automating lending and borrowing transactions.
