LETTER #22: A HOMELESS KNOWS THE VALUE OF A HOME.
People realize the importance of Bitcoin once they are kicked out of the financial system for no reason.
Kicking people out of the global financial system just because of their nationality is a common thing in today’s financial system.
It has happened in the past. It is happening now. And it will happen in the future as long as people keep using this system.
This is a story of a guy - Erich Garcia Cruz - who is 35-year-old and a programmer. He was born in Cuba - a country under severe economic sanctions put forward by America in 1962. These sanctions prevent American businesses from doing business in Cuba.
That’s the reason they don’t have Paypal or Venmo accounts. They can’t use Visa or Mastercard. Western Union, too, suspended its operations in Cuba in Nov 2020 which prevents the transfer of US dollars to Cuba.
The average Cuban has to suffer the economic pain of the conflict between the Cuban and the American government almost six decades ago. The politicians always get away with bad decisions. It’s the average citizen who suffers, always.
For Cubans living insulated from the global financial system, Bitcoin is hope.
“Cubans may not have Visa or Mastercard, but they have PayWithMoon, which allows us to fund a prepaid virtual card with bitcoin (BTC). They can't use banks but found in bitcoin a public peer-to-peer bank. They are not accepted by Stripe, the ubiquitous internet payment network, but can make transfers in seconds through Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.”
Bitcoin is neutral. Bitcoin is apolitical. Bitcoin is for everyone. Bitcoin is borderless.
As Alex Gladstein says, “Check Your Finacial Privilege.”
We are living a fortunate life in the West where we have got access to Visa, Mastercard, Bank accounts, Paypal, and a lot more financial services. People in other parts of the world don’t have that. For them, Bitcoin is a matter of life and death.
FINAL THOUGHT :)
Do something for your physical and mental health every day.