Crypto — The Antidote To Tyranny

I was reflecting on the situation in Lebanon late last night. The country is in chaos with political corruption and economic instability, perhaps the worst economy the nation has ever seen. I have heard first-hand stories of people who had their whole bank accounts seized and stolen by their corrupt government and institutions. Then I started thinking about cryptocurrency, specifically bitcoin.

Had these Lebanese civilians had their money invested in bitcoin, they would still have a portion of it at their disposal. The reason for that is, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are attached to the blockchain on the internet. It is a decentralized monetary system. In Bitcoin’s case, there are only a limited amount; therefore, governments and institutions cant manipulate the values by increasing supply, as they do with fiat currency. In this case, it would have been impossible for govt to seize their money. They could have then escaped the country without running the risk of getting caught and having their money confiscated. Instead, they held US dollars and Lebanese lira, two fiat currencies that governments and institutions can easily manipulate because they have the power to print money, decrease purchasing power and drive up inflation.

The fact that governments and financial institutions have the power to manipulate the money system is perhaps widely accepted and tolerated in our Western nations. But this ability to do so when in the hands of tyrannical and oppressive regimes makes it a scary proposition. Crypto is unique because it removes the middlemen and gives more power to the common person. This democratization of money is similar to the trends with social media in the last two decades. Before social media, only mainstream media outlets and major publishers could distribute content and information. Today, you have the same ability as long as you have a phone and some internet access. This democratization of media has evened out the playing field and put the power into the hands of the common person.

I have no crypto investment strategies or price predictions on hand. I don’t know enough. However, I do know that crypto and blockchain can free a lot of people around the world from the sort of tyranny we see in Lebanon today.

Crypto = freedom