The Starving Afghans Use Crypto to Avoid Sanctions, according to the Taliban

<p>Fereshteh Forough believed that when the Taliban took over Afghanistan in August of last year, they would close her school in Herat, the country's third-largest city. Forough formed the NGO Code to Inspire to teach computer programming to young Afghan women, because the Taliban opposes secondary education for women.</p> <p>Months later, the picture is far different — and considerably worse — than what Forough had envisioned. The school survived, primarily virtual, but has evolved from a coding boot camp into a relief organisation. Hunger was the greatest threat to Forough's students, not a lack of education. Forough attempted to find a method to send emergency funds to the women but was thwarted by banks unwilling to risk breaking severe U.S. sanctions.</p> <p>JPMorgan Chase consistently denied her attempts to transfer money, she said, and she became increasingly concerned when students complained about being unable to withdraw cash from local Afghan banks, many of which had closed or imposed stringent withdrawal limits. As a result, she turned to cryptocurrencies to deliver monthly emergency payments to students in order to assist them purchase enough food to survive.</p> <p>"Since September, we've been sending cash support, approximately $200 per month, to each family, because the majority of our students' families have lost their jobs." "They are the family's primary breadwinner," explained Forough, whose family escaped Afghanistan during the Soviet occupation in the early 1980s and now resides in New Hampshire. Code to Inspire pays its recipients in BUSD, a stablecoin whose value is linked to the US dollar, which the women then convert to afghanis, the local currency, using money exchanges. "We built a safe way for our girls to cash out their cryptocurrency and pay for bills, so they can pay for medical fees, food, and anything else that is required."</p> <p>There are various benefits of utilising cryptocurrency: Afghans escaping the Taliban are free to take their assets with them. Humanitarian organis