Headline: As Iran’s rial collapses, citizens look to Bitcoin — lessons from Lebanon’s banking crisis Iran’s currency has been in freefall in 2026. Hyperinflation, international sanctions and economic mismanagement are eroding savings daily, leaving households struggling to buy essentials. The pattern will look familiar to anyone who watched Lebanon’s collapse beginning in late 2019: bank account freezes, a collapsing national currency, and a population desperate for anything that could preserve value. What happened in Lebanon - Banks imposed withdrawal limits and effectively froze dollar accounts. Dollars trapped in the banking system were redenominated into a rapidly depreciating Lebanese pound; many savers saw more than 90% of their value disappear. - Cash shortages and ATM lines turned into unrest and widespread protests. Remittances from abroad — often the last lifeline — faced delays and steep fees. - In that void, Bitcoin became a practical refuge for some. Peer-to-peer trading surged (especially in messaging apps), merchants in some areas began accepting crypto for basic goods, and remittances moved across borders faster and with fewer intermediaries. - Adoption came with learning curves and setbacks: power cuts, spotty internet, low liquidity outside major cities, and scams or poor custodial services cost people early on. Over time, grassroots communities pushed basic best practices: use non-custodial wallets, back up seed phrases, and avoid leaving funds with untrusted custodians. How Iran’s crisis is mirroring that trajectory - Sanctions and economic isolation have tightened liquidity and driven rapid inflation. Reports put crypto activity connected to Iran at around $8 billion in 2025, and on-chain flows show people moving funds to self-custody to avoid freezes or seizure. - Government policy has been mixed: restrictions on some activities like mining coexist with trials of crypto-based solutions for trade and imports. Meanwhile, stablecoins such as Tether have surfaced as practical day-to-day rails where local payment options fail. - The practical appeal is straightforward: crypto transfers aren’t subject to the same banking controls or cross-border barriers, and private-key custody can be a hedge against devaluation and seizure—if users manage keys securely. What translated from Lebanon’s experience - Technical basics matter more than ever: reliable non-custodial wallets, secure seed backups, and peer-to-peer networks for liquidity and trust were the tools that helped people preserve value in Lebanon. - Education and local networks reduced early losses from scams and custodial failures. Communities formed online and offline to teach safe custody practices (hardware wallets, redundant backups, operational security). - Structural limits persisted: outages, thin local liquidity, and price volatility meant crypto was no silver bullet, but it often outperformed the collapsing local currency over the medium term. Why this matters Iran’s crisis underlines a broader point about centralized finance: account freezes, overprinting and isolation tend to shift risk onto ordinary citizens. For many Iranians, crypto is not ideology so much as utility — a cross-border, permissionless tool to move value and preserve purchasing power when traditional systems fail. A balanced view Crypto can offer practical protections in these scenarios, but it brings its own risks: volatility, operational pitfalls, and regulatory uncertainty. Lebanon’s experience shows both the potential upside and the learning costs. For residents in crisis economies, community-led education and cautious operational security matter as much as the choice of asset. This moment could accelerate shifts in how people store value in sanctioned and high-inflation economies. The message many took from Lebanon: central solutions may fail quickly; tools that enable self-custody and cross-border value transfer can provide alternatives — if people know how to use them safely. Read more AI-generated news on: undefined/news

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