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Sounds like a fake propaganda story (oh look, those corrupt Russian siloviks! every single one of them!). There is A TON of Ukrainian workers (zarobitchane) in

by fuoqi 6y ago

Sounds like a fake propaganda story (oh look, those corrupt Russian siloviks! every single one of them!). There is A TON of Ukrainian workers (zarobitchane) in Russia who not always work legally and they trivially wire funds back to their relatives. (Fun fact: currently foreign workers is one of the most important income sources of foreign currency for the Ukrainian state) Even if we assume that Crimean border guards were indeed so corrupt, it's trivial to go from Crimea (I assume you talk about it) to the Russian mainland, since there are virtually no checks between them, and then back to Ukraine. One possibility which could make this story more trustworthy is that those funds were illegal (e.g. bribes accumulated during Ukraninan rule), so the person would want to transfer them as discretely as possible. I think Bitcoin is widely used for similar purposes in China, as it's (was?) one of the best ways to move abroad illegally acquired funds.

fossuser 6y ago
I found where I think I had originally read it: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tatianakoffman/2020/06/13/why-bitcoin-is-a-silent-protest-against-corrupt-governments-everywhere/#188214803542 https://www.forbes.com/sites/tatianakoffman/2020/06/13/why-b... It sounded plausible enough to me. Relevant quote is below: """ Bitcoin is a protest against corruption. Naval Ravikant, founder of Angelist once tweeted: "Bitcoin is a tool for freeing humanity from oligarchs and tyrants, dressed up as a get-rich-quick scheme." With this perspective in mind, it’s no surprise that Bitcoin has a much higher rate of adoption in countries that have a history of government oppression - Germany, China, Venezuela - and a lower rate of adoption in the U.S. Americans are much more likely to have faith in their U.S. Dollar than a new cryptocurrency. One story was shared with me anonymously by a Ukranian software engineer - let’s call him Greg. In 2014, what began as a peaceful protest in Ukraine quickly grew into a civil war, riddling the country with violence and unrest. As expected, due to political instability, the local currency was devalued by 70%. Greg lost his job and was looking for a way to escape the rebellion. “There was nothing left for me there, I was surrounded by death and destruction. I started plotting an escape.” Airports and roads were guarded by soldiers to prevent people from fleeing - temporary visits to family, however, were permitted by car. It was well known that many of the officials charged with guarding the borders were corrupt and would confiscate money and valuables at checkpoints. And so Greg, having kept most of his savings in USD, decided to trade it all for Bitcoin. He memorized the 12 words from his seed phrase like “his life depended on it” and ran, with nothing but a small backpack on his person, managing to escape with all of his wealth intact. [For anyone new to Bitcoin, you can access a Bitcoin wallet from anywhere on the internet as long as you know your seed phrase.] There are countless stories like Greg’s. Tales of people fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe, South America and Africa, using Bitcoin as a means to carry value with them. For many, Bitcoin is what saved their wealth and, by extension, their life. Skeptics often use the argument that Bitcoin “isn’t backed by anything.” But this is an inherently privileged North American view. Bitcoin is backed by a demand for financial freedom, for an asset outside the control of governments, and one that cannot be confiscated easily. """
- fuoqi 6y ago
  You wrote "in the Russian controlled portion of the country" and "corrupt Russian guards", while the cited paper does not even contain word "Russia" in it and instead it rightfully mentions a "civil war". And as far as gossips go, when you pass between LNR/DNR controlled territory and Ukrainian controlled one shakedown can easily happen on both sides (and it was especially true in chaotic 2014). And it looks a bit strange for this "anonymous software engineer" to keep all his savings in USD cache. Usually you get paid via bank transfers and don't bother with retrieving cache from ATMs, so his funds would be automatically accessible on Ukraninan side. And even if he does not trust his domestic banking system (which arguably a good decision), then it's fairly easy to open an account in an EU bank (e.g. in Estonia). Also he would have to find those willing to trade cache USD for Bitcoins in the midst of a developing military conflict (which is in itself a very risky transaction).

by fuoqi 6y ago

fossuser 6y ago

I found where I think I had originally read it: https://www.forbes.com/sites/tatianakoffman/2020/06/13/why-bitcoin-is-a-silent-protest-against-corrupt-governments-everywhere/#188214803542 https://www.forbes.com/sites/tatianakoffman/2020/06/13/why-b... It sounded plausible enough to me. Relevant quote is below: """ Bitcoin is a protest against corruption. Naval Ravikant, founder of Angelist once tweeted: "Bitcoin is a tool for freeing humanity from oligarchs and tyrants, dressed up as a get-rich-quick scheme." With this perspective in mind, it’s no surprise that Bitcoin has a much higher rate of adoption in countries that have a history of government oppression - Germany, China, Venezuela - and a lower rate of adoption in the U.S. Americans are much more likely to have faith in their U.S. Dollar than a new cryptocurrency. One story was shared with me anonymously by a Ukranian software engineer - let’s call him Greg. In 2014, what began as a peaceful protest in Ukraine quickly grew into a civil war, riddling the country with violence and unrest. As expected, due to political instability, the local currency was devalued by 70%. Greg lost his job and was looking for a way to escape the rebellion. “There was nothing left for me there, I was surrounded by death and destruction. I started plotting an escape.” Airports and roads were guarded by soldiers to prevent people from fleeing - temporary visits to family, however, were permitted by car. It was well known that many of the officials charged with guarding the borders were corrupt and would confiscate money and valuables at checkpoints. And so Greg, having kept most of his savings in USD, decided to trade it all for Bitcoin. He memorized the 12 words from his seed phrase like “his life depended on it” and ran, with nothing but a small backpack on his person, managing to escape with all of his wealth intact. [For anyone new to Bitcoin, you can access a Bitcoin wallet from anywhere on the internet as long as you know your seed phrase.] There are countless stories like Greg’s. Tales of people fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe, South America and Africa, using Bitcoin as a means to carry value with them. For many, Bitcoin is what saved their wealth and, by extension, their life. Skeptics often use the argument that Bitcoin “isn’t backed by anything.” But this is an inherently privileged North American view. Bitcoin is backed by a demand for financial freedom, for an asset outside the control of governments, and one that cannot be confiscated easily. """

fuoqi 6y ago
You wrote "in the Russian controlled portion of the country" and "corrupt Russian guards", while the cited paper does not even contain word "Russia" in it and instead it rightfully mentions a "civil war". And as far as gossips go, when you pass between LNR/DNR controlled territory and Ukrainian controlled one shakedown can easily happen on both sides (and it was especially true in chaotic 2014). And it looks a bit strange for this "anonymous software engineer" to keep all his savings in USD cache. Usually you get paid via bank transfers and don't bother with retrieving cache from ATMs, so his funds would be automatically accessible on Ukraninan side. And even if he does not trust his domestic banking system (which arguably a good decision), then it's fairly easy to open an account in an EU bank (e.g. in Estonia). Also he would have to find those willing to trade cache USD for Bitcoins in the midst of a developing military conflict (which is in itself a very risky transaction).