The Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan has had a “massive chilling effect” on the local cryptocurrency market, bringing it to an effective “standstill,” according to a recent report. Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis in an Oct. 5 report stated the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region saw the largest crypto market growth in 2022 but noted that Afghani crypto dealers had three options: “flee the country, cease operations, or risk arrest.” The report states after the Taliban seized power in August 2021, crypto value received in August and September that year spiked to a peak of over $150 million, then fell …

With the rise of the Taliban last year in August, Afghanistan faced global sanctions that led to many international organizations and money transaction services halting operations in the country. This made room for digital currencies and stablecoins to be widely used, at least to send or receive remittances. However, the Taliban government has recently banned cryptocurrencies and arrested 16 local exchangers in the Northwestern city of Herat in the past week, according to the provincial news website ATN-News. According to the report, the exchanges were initially given a grace period to comply with the government’s regulations but were ultimately shut …

After the Taliban took full control of Afghanistan in August last year, many international non-governmental organizations and services stopped operating in the country. Among them were payment services like Western Union and Swift. Many Afghans subsequently began to learn about cryptocurrencies and the underlying blockchain technology to — at the very least — receive remittances from abroad. As electronic payment services like PayPal and Venmo have never been available in the 5,000-year-old country, Afghans have lost many opportunities in the online business world. “We lost many opportunities like blogging, affiliate marketing and online dropshipping because most of them pay with …

Pashtana Durrani, the founder of an organization working to make education available to women and girls across Afghanistan as the country remains under Taliban rule, said the Islamic fundamentalist group has poor financial literacy, especially when it comes to crypto. In a Wednesday interview with political commentator Tommy Vietor from Pod Save the World, LEARN Afghanistan founder Pashtana Durrani said the international community — particularly the United States — should consider removing the sanctions imposed on Afghanistan and unfreezing funds controlled by foreign governments. According to Durrani, limiting foreign aid to Afghanistan through nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other entities gives …

Nonfungible token (NFT) company Bookblocks.io has partnered with a New York-based organization to help women in Afghanistan have access to education amid the Taliban takeover. Bookblocks.io announced it would be releasing a nonfungible token, or NFT, on Oct. 5 with the proceeds to be given to Women for Afghan Women, an organization that helps to provide women with access to education and vocational training in both Afghanistan and the United States. The artwork, inspired by American author Louisa May Alcott, features half a woman’s face covered by a single butterfly wing with the quote “nothing is impossible to a determined …

An Afghan refugee who had planned to start a crypto mining business has been arrested in Turkey after illegally crossing the border. According to a Reuters report, Muhammad Ali’s goal was to mine Bitcoin (BTC) or Ether (ETH) in Afghanistan before the recent Taliban takeover, when he was forced to flee the country. He claimed that with the restrictions on personal liberties the group was likely to impose, smartphones with cameras could easily be deemed illegal, and internet access could be compromised. Ali, who previously had a YouTube channel where he discussed financial topics, reportedly left Afghanistan amid the Taliban …

With thousands of Afghans currently being accepted as refugees in different countries following the Taliban’s takeover of many highly populated areas, many nonprofit organizations are accepting donations in cryptocurrency. Thousands, if not millions, of Afghans are attempting to or are in the process of fleeing their home in fear of what the Taliban may do now they are largely in control of the country. Organizations helping refugees and those on the ground have put the word out: They need funds to support Afghans arriving on foreign soil with often little more than the clothes on their backs. Hearts & Homes …

Blockchain continues to occupy an unusual space in the contemporary technology sphere, with concepts such as “decentralization,” “transparency” and “immutability” continuing to slide between a purely technical meaning and a more overtly politicized one. Certain blockchain advocates — at least those still steeped in the libertarian ethos that has survived from its roots in the cypherpunk movement — continue to question the technology's implementation for projects like government defense contracts as well as its wider absorption into the traditional financial banking systems it was originally designed to circumvent. Earlier this week, Cointelegraph reached out to several executives at Fantom Foundation …

The United Nations has released a blockchain-powered solution to help the Afghan government manage property ownership issues in the country’s urban areas. According to a Dec. 2 announcement, the U.N. Human Settlements Programme, or U.N.-Habitat, will present its new digital land registry solution to the Ministry of Urban Development and Land in Afghanistan in December 2020. The U.N. first launched its blockchain project for sustainable urban development in Afghanistan in 2019. Now, with its new blockchain-enabled digital land registry tool, the U.N. wants to help Afghanistan address major challenges in urban informal settlements — otherwise known as slums or shanty …

Afghanistan’s healthcare ministry and several local pharmaceutical companies will use Fantom’s blockchain to combat counterfeit drugs. According to Fantom on July 6, its Opera blockchain will be used to track 80,000 units of four different pharmaceutical products in Afghanistan. After this initial pilot, the system will be scaled up to cover more products later this year. 50,000 units of hand sanitizer, 10,000 joint creams, 10,000 Kofol tablets and 10,000 Dioacare foot creams will be tracked during the pilot. The system is meant to address Afghanistan’s problem with counterfeit pharmaceuticals. Fantom stated that local law enforcement seized 100 tons of counterfeit, …

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology continues to be a global phenomenon, with adoption and utilization cases emerging in almost every corner of the globe. Digital technology has become so popular that it is now a major talking point not only in the financial sector but also in politics and governance. The seven “-stan” countries of Central and South Asia — Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan — haven’t shied away from the sweeping digital technology phenomenon. Whether it be revitalizing Afghanistan’s healthcare sector with blockchain adoption or introducing a waiver for crypto mining in Kazakhstan, digital technology utilization appears …

The Afghan Ministry of Public Health has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with blockchain firm FantomOperations to integrate blockchain technology into the country’s healthcare sector. As Afghan Voice Agency reported on Nov. 27, the terms of the MoU would apply blockchain to identify counterfeit medicines, create medical registries in hospitals and digitize patients’ files. Commenting on the initiative, Afghan Public Health Minister Ferozuddin Feroz said: "The Ministry of Public Health is committed for the institutionalization of electronic government in the health sector and the blockchain technology would help the ministry bring transparency, acceleration and effectiveness in the related affairs." …