"The story of a Syrian migrant in Iraq shows how bitcoin can work as intended – as a global currency that transcends borders."

Good luck

What It’s Really Like to Live on Bitcoin in the Middle East Syrian developer Ghass Mo has been living off freelance bitcoin gigs from Kurdistan, Iraq, for nearly two years.  “I get paid in bitcoin for doing work on open-source projects related to the cryptocurrency industry,” Mo said. “The first programmer I met was Amir Taaki. … I learned a lot from him and he was supporting me.”   It’s impossible to say how many people are like Mo, inspired by a chance meeting with a bitcoiner to embark on an educational journey toward financial sovereignty. These cases are often isolated, at least in the developing world. Yet, they are increasingly familiar to people who work with digital nomads. They are showing bitcoin can work as intended, as a global currency without borders.  Read more: Bitcoin in Emerging Markets: The Middle East Mo left Syria in his early 20s because of the civil war and became an unbanked migrant worker to support his family. This may sound bleak but Mo has a lot in common with the other developers he now works with online.  He is a quiet man, a self-taught developer who rarely leaves his chosen Batcave except for shopping and rare outings. Mo has a perpetual five o’clock shadow and a minimalist home office setup, with just a few laptops, a monitor and always a cup of Arabic coffee. He’s never met most of the people he works with online, nor does he know of any local bitcoin meetups. He spends his evenings reading about Rust and studying at home with books like “Mastering Bitcoin.”  “The ongoing war in Syria and lack of stability affected me,” he said. “Sometimes I spend months trying to finish an online course, translating every single word [from English]. … The people [I know] interested in this field of study could be counted on one hand.”  Getting by Like many other freelance developers earning bitcoin across the Middle East, Mo liquidates his bitcoin through a local exchange to pay for daily expenses. A local grad student who founded the Kurdcoin exchange, who asked to stay anonymous, has been operating a hawala-adjacent business for customers like Mo since 2017.  Hawala is a traditional money network used to send value across the Islamic world for hundreds of years, long before bitcoin. Thanks to partnerships with long-standing hawala businesses, bitcoin has merely become another option offered by such money changers. This is very accessible to local people with a wide range of computer skills and access.   “Facebook is our primary source for discovery for new clients. Word of mouth is the second,” said the anonymous exchange founder. “We also sell hardware wallets ourselves. We recently started this service, we’ve sold 10 in Iraq, and it’s increasing.”   Read more: How Bitcoin Fits Into Lebanon’s Banking Crisis  Mo and users like him can message the Kurdcoin accounts on social media, including Telegram, Twitter or Instagram. The exchange is supported by a staff of 10 people. Clients can pay online with bitcoin and pick up their cash at almost any local hawala business from Syria to Kurdish Iran. Mo also uses bitcoin to send money to his family. 

This was a very interesting read about someone earning and living off bitcoin in Kurdistan and the bitcoin market there. Thanks.

The hurdles preventing local adoption in the Middle East aren’t the lack of opportunity or demand; they are primarily the byproduct of political conditions. In Yemen and Iran, bitcoiners may need to avoid both domestic and international compliance risks. Most fintech companies overlook Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, even without sanctions. As such, there are few comprehensive or clear datasets related to usage beyond global (and heavily regulated) crypto exchanges.

>"The story of a Syrian migrant in Iraq shows how bitcoin can work as intended – as a global currency that transcends borders."

Bitcoin (BTC) is the first cryptocurrency that emerged. It is based on a peer to peer decentralized network that facilitates payments from a user to another. The smallest unit of the bitcoin currency recorded on the blockchain is the Satoshi (0.00000001 BTC). The unit has been named after the original creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto.

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This is the news I really appreciate it 🙏. because I want Bitcoin all over the world.its the most secure currency

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"IT WAS A GREAT FEELING WHEN I REALIZED I COULD BUY FOOD AND OTHER STUFF USING BITCOIN" Imagine buying falafel on street of Kurdistan. "That would be 0.0001 btc sir, please send it to this address."

Excited to watch for this

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Crypto-currency offers people to work on open source projects and pay bitcoins on the basis of their [work.It](http://work.It) claims bitcoin can work as a global currency without borders and it is true because Syrian developer Ghass Mo is one of those examples.He is a successful man to embark on education journey toward financial sovereignty by earning bitcoins with the help of bitcoin developer Amir Taaki.I think it is a perfect platform to be a self-reliant person.

What It’s Really Like to Live on Bitcoin in the Middle East Syrian developer Ghass Mo has been living off freelance bitcoin gigs from Kurdistan, Iraq, for nearly two years.  “I get paid in bitcoin for doing work on open-source projects related to the cryptocurrency industry,” Mo said. “The first programmer I met was Amir Taaki. … I learned a lot from him and he was supporting me.”   It’s impossible to say how many people are like Mo, inspired by a chance meeting with a bitcoiner to embark on an educational journey toward financial sovereignty. These cases are often isolated, at least in the developing world. Yet, they are increasingly familiar to people who work with digital nomads. They are showing bitcoin can work as intended, as a global currency without borders. 

What It’s Really Like to Live on Bitcoin in the Middle East Syrian developer Ghass Mo has been living off freelance bitcoin gigs from Kurdistan, Iraq, for nearly two years.  “I get paid in bitcoin for doing work on open-source projects related to the cryptocurrency industry,” Mo said. “The first programmer I met was Amir Taaki. … I learned a lot from him and he was supporting me.”   It’s impossible to say how many people are like Mo, inspired by a chance meeting with a bitcoiner to embark on an educational journey toward financial sovereignty. These cases are often isolated, at least in the developing world. Yet, they are increasingly familiar to people who work with digital nomads. They are showing bitcoin can work as intended, as a global currency without borders.  Read more: Bitcoin in Emerging Markets: The Middle East Mo left Syria in his early 20s because of the civil war and became an unbanked migrant worker to support his family. This may sound bleak but Mo has a lot in common with the other developers he now works with online.  He is a quiet man, a self-taught developer who rarely leaves his chosen Batcave except for shopping and rare outings. Mo has a perpetual five o’clock shadow and a minimalist home office setup, with just a few laptops, a monitor and always a cup of Arabic coffee. He’s never met most of the people he works with online, nor does he know of any local bitcoin meetups. He spends his evenings reading about Rust and studying at home with books like “Mastering Bitcoin.”  “The ongoing war in Syria and lack of stability affected me,” he said. “Sometimes I spend months trying to finish an online course, translating every single word [from English]. … The people [I know] interested in this field of study could be counted on one hand.”  Getting by Like many other freelance developers earning bitcoin across the Middle East, Mo liquidates his bitcoin through a local exchange to pay for daily expenses. A local grad student who founded the Kurdcoin exchange, who asked to stay anonymous, has been operating a hawala-adjacent business for customers like Mo since 2017.  Hawala is a traditional money network used to send value across the Islamic world for hundreds of years, long before bitcoin. Thanks to partnerships with long-standing hawala businesses, bitcoin has merely become another option offered by such money changers. This is very accessible to local people with a wide range of computer skills and access.   “Facebook is our primary source for discovery for new clients. Word of mouth is the second,” said the anonymous exchange founder. “We also sell hardware wallets ourselves. We recently started this service, we’ve sold 10 in Iraq, and it’s increasing.”   Read more: How Bitcoin Fits Into Lebanon’s Banking Crisis  Mo and users like him can message the Kurdcoin accounts on social media, including Telegram, Twitter or Instagram. The exchange is supported by a staff of 10 people. Clients can pay online with bitcoin and pick up their cash at almost any local hawala business from Syria to Kurdish Iran. Mo also uses bitcoin to send money to his family.

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