I am from Myanmar, a country where the military staged a coup on Feb 1. I want to share my story of how I was introduced to Crypto and how it could help my country now and in the future. I will not focus on the horrid acts of the military such as violent crackdowns of protestors, lawless killings of 800++ people, loots, vandalism, telecom cutoffs and detention of almost 10k people.Forced investment: CryptoCurrencyAfter a few days into the coup, a group of doctors started a movement called "Civil Disobedience Movement" where they stopped going their work at government hospitals to show their resilience to the military and its attempt to control the country. This caught on like wildfire and rallied/inspired other professionals such as teachers, lawyers, medical officers, engineers, bankers and other government officers. The movement is so unexpected and significant in a way that it effectively jammed the operations of all government work.Then the military decided to detain the chief and deputy chief of the Central Bank and replaced with their own military personnel. It caused professionals from private banks joining the CDM movement to voice out that they do not want to work under the military and it leads to most banks closing 80% of their branches because of insufficient manpower. Obviously, this created panic among bank users and they started withdrawing cash by any means (ATMs, branches) People started lining up in front of branches and ATMs since 4am to be able to withdraw their money. NO ONE TRUSTS THE MILITARY NOR THE BANKS ANYMORE.This caused bank-runs and banks started to limit the withdrawal amounts (currently $200 per week per account and limited slots per day) Also, inflation rate soared by 30% and many people bought gold and USD to hedge against inflation. Many shops and markets stopped accepting payment via mobile banking since their money will be frozen in their accounts. WE ARE IN MASSIVE CASH SHORTAGE!I had my life savings in bank account and I did not have time or energy to spend 5 hours every day to withdraw from an ATM (not even guaranteed) I started finding ways to channel my savings into something so that I can get my money out before bank crashes. This is when I stumbled upon Crypto. It was such a promising long-term investment option (it is around late Mar so green every day :") ) that I risked everything into Crypto. I would rather invest all in Crypto than letting my money frozen and potentially gone. That is the beginning of my Crypto journey.CC can help avoid centralized control over our moneyThe more I learn about CC, the more I realize that the problems people in Myanmar can be solved with decentralization. If we had widely adopted CC as payment or investment options, we do not have to give a damn about the Central Bank and the banks. We will not have to beg for our own money.Another example is that we now have an interim civilian government formed by officially elected lawmakers ousted by the military during the coup. They are in exile and hiding from the military junta. They are trying to help those who are out of job because they joined CDM movement and refugees running from skirmishes and raiding of the military. However they need serious funds to run their operations. Civilians are strongly backing this government as they voted for them last year and they want to support the government with donations. Unfortunately, military-controlled Central Bank is cracking down all donation streams going through bank transactions (both local and remittance). Every account owned by coordinators is closed and tracked down leading to coordinators getting arrested with their info available at the banks. This is also where CC can shine. People can anonymously donate without fear of being caught.I seriously believe that Cryptocurrency and decentralization can revolutionize the world in so many ways and I am starting to see how it can fuel creative solutions.Thank you so much for reading til the end and listening to my story. It is pretty late but I just couldn't sleep. Hope you all have a great weekend.TLDR: All of my savings are FROZEN in bank accounts because of the coup and I invested everything in Crypto to get them out of the unstable banks. Then I start realizing how much potential Crypto has to change the world.
Submitted July 03, 2021 at 02:13AM
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