4 ms·

Here's my dumb question that I always want to ask- why can't the people of Lebanon, or other residents of poor & unstable countries, just use digital dollars? (

Here's my dumb question that I always want to ask- why can't the people of Lebanon, or other residents of poor & unstable countries, just use digital dollars? (Or euros?) People in developing countries have access to payment technology like Payoneer and other methods of money transfer, and the dollar is vastly more stable than any cryptocurrency. Why don't they just.... ignore their local currency and do everything in dollars? What am I missing?

imachine1980_ 5y ago
Becouse you need dollars in the central bank too buy dollars And You need dollars I the central banks too sustenance of the currency Mean that I you don't have dollars too sustenance of the currency you also don't have dollars to buy, but people can produce crypto, meaning that the country can sell it.
dudeinjapan 5y ago
Yes but do dollars come with unlockable content such as EXCLUSIVE access to the Bored Alpaca Polo Club Discord server?
actually_a_dog 5y ago
Why do you specify "digital" dollars or euros? Both the dollar and the euro are mostly digital currencies already. Dollars that only exist in a computer system somewhere out-value coins and notes by a factor of (IIRC) 10 or more.
c0ffeebabe 5y ago
I created an account just to answer this question, seems it seems like a lot of people in the first world can't even phantom the need for people to use an unregulated currency. Source: I'm from Argentina. I can't speak for the situation in Lebanon or any other place, but I imagine there are similarities. I know there are similarities with Venezuela and (I believe) Iran. Long story short: when your government deems illegal or at least suspicious for you to save in USD/EUR, Payoneer/Paypal/etc are risky to use. You have several problems: 1. You can't easily use the money on (say) Payoneer. You need a credit card. Credit cards are easy to tract. You'll quickly have someone asking where the money came from. I understand this seems like a good idea in a sane country, but it is not desirable when the only way for you to save is to bend the rules somewhat. 2. You can't put your money into Payoneer/Paypal/etc because, remember, you don't have any USD. You can't buy them. So the only way these are a fix is for people who work for USA/Europe and can maybe get paid directly there. 3. Cryptocurrency is not yet as regulated nor it is easily regulated. Payoneer has to comply with Argentinian law because they are a financial entity. Cryptos are still young and are (at least in Argentina) still somehow being able to sell USD-like assets without selling USD. Example: in Argentina you can buy up to 200 USD per month (well, the lucky ones get 200 USD... won't get into details), but you can buy as many USDC as you want. 4. The _your keys, your money_ moto may be a meme for the YCombinator crowd, but it is not for many people. Payoneer/Paypal and banks *will* ask for documents baking up your funds. Again, this is a good idea if you live in a sane country, but many people do not. You can't just go to the bank and tell them: no, I don't have these dollars declared anywhere because they are illegal to own in my country. I've seen colleague's accounts getting closed due to "suspicious activity" and their assets are frozen. The Argentinian answer is generally: be grateful you are earning in USD, look for the next Payoneer (I think we are using a lot of Dukascopy lately) _or_ switch to crypto. Anyway. Make of crypto what you will, but people in high-inflation countries with an excess of love for regulation intuitively understand their appeal.
ilammy 5y ago
> What am I missing? People in wealthy and stable countries have it very nice that their strong and stable currency is also legal exchange medium in their country. It's common for governments to make it literally illegal to transact in anything but the official currency of a country. So your poor and unstable country needs to be wealthy and stable enough for people to actually afford dollars, smartphones, Payoneers (hard to do that when your monthly income is $10). And at the same time the country has to be poor and unstable enough for fiscal law enforcement to be pretty low on government's priorities.
hassancf 5y ago
The state would not allow you to exchange your local currency into US dollars. In other words, you can’t ask your bank to convert local currency to the dollar: that’s heavily regulated by the state.

imachine1980_ 5y ago

Becouse you need dollars in the central bank too buy dollars And You need dollars I the central banks too sustenance of the currency Mean that I you don't have dollars too sustenance of the currency you also don't have dollars to buy, but people can produce crypto, meaning that the country can sell it.

dudeinjapan 5y ago

Yes but do dollars come with unlockable content such as EXCLUSIVE access to the Bored Alpaca Polo Club Discord server?

actually_a_dog 5y ago

Why do you specify "digital" dollars or euros? Both the dollar and the euro are mostly digital currencies already. Dollars that only exist in a computer system somewhere out-value coins and notes by a factor of (IIRC) 10 or more.

c0ffeebabe 5y ago

I created an account just to answer this question, seems it seems like a lot of people in the first world can't even phantom the need for people to use an unregulated currency. Source: I'm from Argentina. I can't speak for the situation in Lebanon or any other place, but I imagine there are similarities. I know there are similarities with Venezuela and (I believe) Iran. Long story short: when your government deems illegal or at least suspicious for you to save in USD/EUR, Payoneer/Paypal/etc are risky to use. You have several problems: 1. You can't easily use the money on (say) Payoneer. You need a credit card. Credit cards are easy to tract. You'll quickly have someone asking where the money came from. I understand this seems like a good idea in a sane country, but it is not desirable when the only way for you to save is to bend the rules somewhat. 2. You can't put your money into Payoneer/Paypal/etc because, remember, you don't have any USD. You can't buy them. So the only way these are a fix is for people who work for USA/Europe and can maybe get paid directly there. 3. Cryptocurrency is not yet as regulated nor it is easily regulated. Payoneer has to comply with Argentinian law because they are a financial entity. Cryptos are still young and are (at least in Argentina) still somehow being able to sell USD-like assets without selling USD. Example: in Argentina you can buy up to 200 USD per month (well, the lucky ones get 200 USD... won't get into details), but you can buy as many USDC as you want. 4. The _your keys, your money_ moto may be a meme for the YCombinator crowd, but it is not for many people. Payoneer/Paypal and banks *will* ask for documents baking up your funds. Again, this is a good idea if you live in a sane country, but many people do not. You can't just go to the bank and tell them: no, I don't have these dollars declared anywhere because they are illegal to own in my country. I've seen colleague's accounts getting closed due to "suspicious activity" and their assets are frozen. The Argentinian answer is generally: be grateful you are earning in USD, look for the next Payoneer (I think we are using a lot of Dukascopy lately) _or_ switch to crypto. Anyway. Make of crypto what you will, but people in high-inflation countries with an excess of love for regulation intuitively understand their appeal.

ilammy 5y ago

> What am I missing? People in wealthy and stable countries have it very nice that their strong and stable currency is also legal exchange medium in their country. It's common for governments to make it literally illegal to transact in anything but the official currency of a country. So your poor and unstable country needs to be wealthy and stable enough for people to actually afford dollars, smartphones, Payoneers (hard to do that when your monthly income is $10). And at the same time the country has to be poor and unstable enough for fiscal law enforcement to be pretty low on government's priorities.

hassancf 5y ago

The state would not allow you to exchange your local currency into US dollars. In other words, you can’t ask your bank to convert local currency to the dollar: that’s heavily regulated by the state.