Nassim Nicholas Taleb, author of the book "Black Swan", advised Lebanon citizens to use cryptocurrency. The banks in Lebanon is limiting access to foreign money. This is a difficult situation since more than 2/3 of the Lebanese people are abroad.
Since October, the Lebanese Pound has lost half its value.
The Lebanese banks are trying to avert a run. They are now requiring all payouts to be in local currency.
This is sparking outrage among the citizens of Lebanon.
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Lebanon is not the only country to do this. Egypt, Poland, and even the United States, have limited withdrawals in recent weeks as the pandemic started to take its toll.
Taleb recommends using Bitcoin or Ethereum which exist outside the banking system.
This, of course, was one of the original intents of Bitcoin. Being born out of the last financial crisis, it was an attempt to offer an alternative to the existing banking system. While adoption was slow, it is becoming more evident of how this is needed. The present crisis is seeing the banks using the same old tricks.
As for this virus being a black swan event, Taleb does not think so. He forewarned of this situation more than a decade ago. In fact, he pointed to a pandemic that was spread by travelers. Airline cabins are an epicenter for the passing of germs.
He feels companies should have been prepared for what was coming. The fact they didn't resides with them.
https://decrypt.co/25933/black-swan-author-urges-use-cryptocurrencies
More and more, we are seeing cryptocurrency being looked at as a viable alternative to the existing system. Up to this point, we saw this viewpoint in countries where crisis hit such as Venezuela or Iran. Now, with the fallout from the coronavirus, we are seeing much of the planet in crisis.
The banks are doing what they do: protecting themselves at the expense of everyone else. They are doing all they can to prevent bank runs. There is even some support from governments as they look to implement digital currencies (which they control of course).
In the end, people are getting hurt. Cryptocurrency might be a way to level the playing field by keeping people out of the banking system, at least to a degree.
As Taleb suggests, when sending money, especially internationally, it might be best to use Bitcoin or Ethereum. It is also a viable way to get out of a currency that is in a free fall as the Lebanese Pound is.
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