Bitcoin Forum

As the crisis in  Sudan persisted and countries tried to evacuate their citizens in the troubled country, an unexpected event played out that Bitcoin become the only way to reach some victims who were trapped in the desert with no money or bank networks.
This is the situation with some Africans who are currently trapped in the desert at the moment since the buses evacuating them stopped in the middle of the desert leaving the Nigerians who were running from the crisis to have no choice but to look for alternative ways to continue their journey back home or ease their pain while waiting for another rescue, the situation is more worst because most of those involved have no money left on them and they were relying on the government arrangement to get them back from Sudan to Nigeria but at the moment reports have it that the buses drivers have stopped the journey halfway and for the past 3 days most of the Nigerians have been left in the middle of deserts left to fend for themselves.
The role Bitcoin played in Getting financial help to the victims:
Some of those on the evacuation journey have to reach out to families and well-wishers seeking for funding to help ease their pain and since there are no bank networks in the desert and no way to send or receive fiat money, I suggested the use of Bitcoin to get money across to a friend who is stuck, and all we needed to do was to send the money to his Bitcoin wallet without any restrictions or delays.
The Bitcoin was received within a short time, and this gave me more satisfaction using Bitcoin in the time of crisis, the only problem is how he can exchange the Bitcoin and make payments that will help his struggle in the desert but the joy is that he now has access to funds through Bitcoin, and the stress to exchange into any local available currency or using Bitcoin to make payment on p2p if he meets anyone that use and accept Bitcoin is far more better and lesser worries, than the troubles of not having access to money at all.
Indeed Bitcoin is a life savior.

For those asking for link, you can watch this video to get the clear picture of the nature of things with the Nigerians stranded im the deserts.
https://twitter.com/nigeriantribune/status/1651601215019532290
And as for those who doubt my write up, its all good since it was a personal friend's supports.
I was just trying to portray the ability of Bitcoin to connect people financially even though the other party may not be able to use it to sort out they financial challenges at that point, but I guess having something to rely on is far better, were all hopes is lost and the person is vulnerable in time of crisis.

By any chance, do you have a link on the article(if there is), regarding this? I'm a bit shocked that online payments are not accessible but Bitcoin is? As far as I know, cryptocurrencies are less accepted by majority of the countries unlike with fiat online banking as long as there is an internet connection. Offline transactions in Bitcoin network could only work through hard wallet but it sounds impossible with the given indtance since they are isolated. We all know how beneficial Bitcoin is as an investment and as a mode of payment but in times of an emergency such as with above, isn't it fiat based online payments would be more convenient?

I don't know how Bitcoin is a life savior in your story. If you're stuck in the desert, Bitcoin can't actually help you. Water is your life-saver. A group of travelers is a life-saver. An oasis is a life-saver, but not Bitcoin.

If I'm stuck in the middle of the desert for 3 days, Bitcoin won't probably give me joy. What will give me joy is that bus that will finally fetch me away from that hell and impending death.

Actually, in circumstances like this, cash proves to be much better than Bitcoin.

I was also confused. If they can't use the network to pay online, how can it be easy to use bitcoin? And how all the people on that bus had no cash or bank accounts but most had bitcoins, I really doubt the story. I don't believe that people who are migrating will have no cash. I know bitcoin is bringing us many benefits and many use cases, it can be said to be the savior of many people. But this story is unrealistic and somewhat exaggerated and biased for bitcoin.

Bitcoin can be a life savior but in that case, they will also find it difficult to exchange their bitcoins because they have to find a shop that accepts bitcoins, especially in the desert.
Everything will be useless if he still won't able to use his bitcoins even though he managed to get a lot of bitcoins from donations that are very far from where they are.
And this requires the government's participation to legalize bitcoin as an option for payment so that if people cannot access the bank and make transactions, they can still buy something at a shop that accepts bitcoins to survive.
Bitcoin still needs approval from the government to be used more widely; hopefully, that will happen soon before the crisis hits all countries.

Yes bitcoin maybe of help them but I literally find it useless on their situation. What actually they need are food and water and any means of supply for living. Cause their situation is a bit of hard, and having bitcoin on that place isnt much of help. Unless they can use that to order pizza delivery and sent to them isnt it.

It may help on doing financial transaction but the adoption measures isnt appropriate with the story.

That's a really inspiriting story but can you clear my mind out that how did they manage to receive the Bitcoin in desert? I mean in those areas there are no good networking facilities available then how did they got access to internet and received the Bitcoin?

Other than those concerns I found the story really inspiring and astonishing. If they somehow received the Bitcoin then they might have access to smartphones and internet which would make it easy for them to convert the Bitcoin into digital fiat that they can use to purchase good from the people in the desert.

I don't think that anyone in those deserts may have enough knowledge about Bitcoin and its usage and that's why those bitcoins are currently of no use to those Nigerians as they can not cash out those coins in the desert.  However, if they can convert those Bitcoin into digital fiat then there might be someone in the desert who may accept that digital fiat payment in exchange of cash or goods.

Bravo, this is the true mission of Bitcoin and it is precisely for these needs that it was created here.  I am sure (and in fact I have proof of it) that the industrialized world will arrive very late in using Bitcoin while the poorest countries such as Sudan will be among the first and will benefit from it in the future.

You have a point. I am sick and tired of seeing these pointless articles that picture bitcoin a solution to every world problem. There is war? Bitcoin solves it. There is drought? Bitcoin solves it… People won’t even think about buying bitcoin (and they won’t be able to) in these situations. And even if they did before these bad stuff happened, they won’t make a use of their coins till they move to another country. How are they gonna take care of themselves before that happens? Nobody in Sudan gives a damn about crypto probably. Can they even access an exchange and make trades?

First, is it a Made up story or a real one? If it's a Made up story, It's unlikely to happen they will find someone in the middle of the desert to sell their Bitcoin. I am curious how they will have a Mobile network in the middle of the desert where they do not have access to a bank network. Mobile networks and the internet are everything there. If the Mobile network works, they can use mobile banking using the internet. If they don't have access to the mobile network, they cannot access Bitcoin either. This story may be interesting to hear for kids. But not who love realistic stories.

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You have used "I," "we," and "me" in this story, and it looks like you were involved in this case. If you claim this is a real story, you were involved. I would say I don't believe you. Don't come up with made-up fake stories. I have some friends in Saudi Arabia, and I know the situation. Sometimes you won't see anyone in some deserts for a long time. In some places, You won't have access to the mobile network. Also, someone can't come to the middle of the desert and give them fiat money in exchange for Bitcoin. Stop lying.

I think you just helped your friend partially because if buses are not moving due to money then BTC is of great help because they can use it as payment but as you mentioned there are no banks or BTC ATMs then the only way is they have to find a person who could accept there BTC and can give them fiat.

Or they have to give their BTC directly to the bus drivers if they accept it. On the other hand, i wasn't aware of the situation can you please find me an article that could help me to know the whole situation? like which desert they are in? is there any network connectivity there, because if there is connectivity they can simply make an online transaction to the driver's account so that the driver could move instead of sticking to the long procedure of converting BTC into fiat where you have no access to the p2p feature.

Bitcoin as of now is the life savior of people with stupid governments and poor local currency, other than that it's just a financial investment.
As everyone else mentioned, you didn't link up any article or anything to prove your claims which is very common here on this forum.

Bitcoin does require the internet for payments and isn't modern banking include mBanking options too? Don't really understand how only BITCOIN solves this.

I read an article that the government has already banned the use of bitcoins in their country, even if someone deals with cryptocurrencies there is a risk of facing the law.

At the moment Sudan is in an emergency crisis where there are two groups fighting for power when many people are trapped in this situation then bitcoin will not be able to save anything because I believe there are very few bitcoin users and it will be more difficult to make P2P transactions to exchange to local money especially to the bank of course it can not be done.

The important thing now is saving every citizen, and evacuating as soon as possible, but what other people say is the staple food and bus pickup will be the real savior.

If they are in an area where a network connection is available. They can simply use mobile banking and transfer money where needed. I don't think any bus driver in Arabs will stop his bus because his passengers cannot pay because of the network connection. If passengers don't have a network connection, it will be the same for drivers as well. If they have money and can pay the driver once they reach the network, Arab drivers won't refuse to help them. It's basic things in Arab. They won't leave anyone in the middle of the desert for money.

This is a made-up story, for sure. If they have internet access in the middle of the desert, they can do bank transactions or mobile transactions if they need urgent cash. As he said, there was no network; how is Bitcoin supposed to work there? How they communicated without the Internet or Mobile network? I am curious to see his answer regarding this.

Your suggestion was good, but I'm a bit worried about the usage of bitcoin in the desert, Because at this point they need fiat currency to easily engage with whoever they might met to help them to a safe destination.
 And how possible will it be to have internet service in the desert before you even engage in P2P, because this is a warring situation and everybody scampering for safety.

I tried googling to find additional information about the op's story, but couldn't find anything. So I join others in saying that a link to a source would be much appreciated. If it's a true story, it's wonderful to see that Bitcoin was useful in an unexpected situation. However, I don't quite understand why online banking wasn't available (even though the Internet connection was okay, I assume, considering that Bitcoin could be sent and received)... I remember some stories from my own country, from the early days of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Some people used Bitcoin (https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/t14q5q/danish_reporters_in_ukraine_buy_used_car_with/) to purchase a car, for example. So I do understand how a situation similar to the one described by the op could present itself, but I'd like to see more information about the Sudan-Nigeria case.

OP, you can just as much enjoy sending Bitcoin to your friends at any time without having to make up stories about the desert. There is a big difference between having Bitcoin and being able to use it here and now. Give your friends your bitcoins, and then you can also consider yourself, along with bitcoin, a savior, since owning bitcoin is definitely better than not having it. It doesn't matter how or when it is used. The important thing is that your friends have it. :)

The source is trust me bro, I heard from a friend of a relative of a guy who meet his stepmom on Tinder that she once dreamt of this!

The simple problem with this story is that if the guy who pays in Bitcoin does so because there is no access to other fiances, why is the other guy accepting it since he has no way of cashing out and how does he pay for the stuff? I met a ton of Ukraine refugees last year, they all were trying to exchange hrivnas for USD or euros, they all had either cash in USD or euros, and they had a few debit cards, in the tens of trips in welcoming centers, I've never heard on asking if he can pay in Bitcoin.
It's a psychological thing, and it won't change in decades, when running for your life you want value you can touch and that can be easily changed in times of need, not something you like this. It's not Bitcoin's fault for being so perceived but it's hard to change how humans think, it will take a while.


Yeah, cool story, and what has he done with those bitcoins since he had no way to transfer them or exchange them to fiat?
He paid who with coins, and why did those guys take coins when they also had nowhere to spend them, since, you said it, it was a desert, quite a funny looking desert with 5G poles every kilometer? And why did the guy abandon them and suddenly decided then to continue the trip when he got Bitcoins, why didn't they pay him in coins the entire sum from the start?

Seriously, lock this farce!

In that situation, while reading the OP, the problem was already built on my mind on how these people are going to exchange these bitcoins sent to them as aid if they're in the middle of nowhere?

Yeah, they will receive it directly if they've got their phones and wallets and let's say that they're connected with their mobile networks. But then it can't be avoided that there will be problems like if they've been stuck for so long in the middle of desert or nowhere, they'll go lowbatt and then what's next with them?

It's a tough situation to think of and yes, only P2P will be the solution on this one but if the merchant they encounter isn't aware of bitcoin and ain't willing to trade and accept payment in bitcoin, it's still no help IMO.

I'm also a bitcoin investor, I really love it more than any other asset class, and it makes up the bulk of my asset portfolio right now. But I also get sick of seeing people exaggerate bitcoin so much, they see bitcoin as a god that can help them solve all problems in life. I don't want to exaggerate, but many people consider bitcoin as a religion, and they worship it more than themselves or their parents. Why can't people live more realistically but exaggerate things too much? Will that make them richer?
I really don't believe the OP's story, how can people who can't use the internet in the desert use bitcoins?

Where did you get this information, because I think the story you wrote is a bit difficult to digest. But if the story or information is true, will the trapped people be able to get out safely now?

Seeing from your post, I understand that the people who are trapped are rescued by intermediary bitcoin. Indeed, bitcoin can really help many people, especially those who invest in it. Because if you never buy or invest, how can bitcoin help. So basically people are helped by bitcoin, because they invest in it. So now back to your story, I want to ask you, is there an internet connection in the middle of the desert where the trapped person is? if anything, all your stories can be slightly understood. But suppose there is an internet connection, bitcoins are also sent successfully, but how do you use them or exchange them for fiat money? because in the middle of the desert, I don't think there is access to it. So I think, if you are trapped in a desert like the one in your story, what you definitely need is food.

Even if you have a large bag of cash or tens of bitcoins, but if there is no place to buy them or use them (such as in the desert example), I think all of that will be useless, because what you need when you are stuck in the desert or anywhere, surely the first thing you need is food.

Well, hot diggity - Bitcoin's stumbled upon its true purpose: safeguarding travelers from the dangers of desert bus escapades! But no joke, it's astonishing to see cryptocurrency flex in a crisis. Who'd have thunk Bitcoin - the love child of decentralization and financial emancipation - would swoop in to assist those stuck in the Sahara?

Goes to show, innovation can pop up when you least expect it. Perhaps we'll spot a new generation of crypto startups committed to helping the needy worldwide - from disaster aid to refugee backing and more. For now, I'll clutch my Bitcoin wallet tight - you can't predict when it'll come in handy for, say, a camel purchase.

Well, the nice thing about Bitcoin is the fact that you can walk around with a small piece of paper and it can contain a Bitcoin address & Private key and you can take all your money with you. You can hide that anywhere and nobody will suspect a thing...

You can also keep this in cloud servers online (obviously swapping some numbers and letters that only you know) and your wealth can be safe, when you access it on the other side.  ;)

Agree 100% with what you say, so basically the OP doesn't pay much attention to the important points of how role by role involves conditions in the field. Either the OP forgot how to interpret the need to support survival in the middle of the desert as a stock of food, drink, and cash. Because with these 3 things, I think I can have ideal conditions.

Even having 1 Bitcoin in a digital wallet while in the middle of a desert far away where there isn't even a local bank is useless. In general, because we see the situation that the OP described is not possible to cash out Bitcoins.

The only thing OP will have put up here that bitcoin came up to the rescue is when the victims are out of fiat money and since they are in a different country it will be hard going through the bank to send a foreign currency. At this stage it will be easier to send bitcoin so that the victim can convert to any countries fiat. Just like the one of Turkey. But without network connections like the OP said, bitcoin is totally useless. So I think this is just a fiction.

I would like to hope that Bitcoin is and continues to play a growing role in saving people from personal financial crisis, both by being a part of it and also by taking advantage of its use case. After all, this is one of the reasons that Bitcoin was created - as a life raft in the face of economic destruction caused by the interests who drive the fiat money order. While what is happening in Sudan and around the world is terrible, it is good to read that Bitcoin is playing its role in helping some people avert crisis.

Is this really safe since I've heard people say that seed phrases shouldn't be stored on online platforms?

Going back to OP's story, I find it bullshit and unreal. How in the desert, people can use the internet, and in the desert 3 days, the thing to save them is water and food, not bitcoins. And the article mentioned nothing but bitcoin. It's like a made-up story.

The news of Nigerian students trapped in the desert because the transport company didn't receive their full payment is true and can be viewed from this link (https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vanguardngr.com/2023/04/sudan-how-nigerian-students-were-trapped-in-desert/amp/). But there is no information to verify the story of using Bitcoin to pay the drivers. And the drivers had dealings with the Nigerian government and not individual students. As much as I know also, North African countries are the most unfriendly nations to Bitcoin. Countries like Algeria, Egypt, Tunisia, and Morocco placed an absolute ban on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Although Sudan didn't ban cryptocurrency transactions absolutely, the Central Bank discourages the citizens of Sudan from using crypto.

I know Bitcoin can do what fiat cannot do as we saw in Ukraine when the banking sector was affected and people donated with Bitcoin to Ukraine. I just hope that such kind gestures will be given to the people of Sudan because they need help.

Good catch in getting the link available for everyone. However, it seems like the OP is exaggerating things out? The issue was the full payment where that specific transportation company instructed their bus drivers to stop to wherever they are currently as they have no been paid in full.
That kind of issue can be quickly escalated in my opinion if they did not put the lives of their passengers in danger. They could've carried on and settled the payment issues once they get on the other side safely.
I don't see Bitcoin was necessary in this story either, because the passengers don't actually need to hand over the payment to the bus drivers, but it is the transportation company who was demanding for the payment, someone from the other side could do the payment.

Speaking of reality like you say in the middle of the desert, bitcoin is useless in situations like that. Even if we say that you have a lot of bitcoin in your wallet, the main thing you will be looking for is water not bitcoin to survive.

           Because we know that the internet is necessary for bitcoin and that it is not in the middle of the desert, so everything you said is correct and correct in your explanations. I too am wondering how bitcoin can be a life savior in such a scenario. Because the one who will be my ex is deceiving too much.

The story presented by the OP has some holes on it, after all even if a person had a phone with charge and a bitcoin wallet already installed, if they are really on the middle of the desert then there is not going to be any way for them or anyone in that situation to connect to the internet.

And as such the people trapped on those circumstances will depend almost exclusively on what they have on hand and their skills to get out of this dangerous situation.

This isn't a big deal since the travellers could have easily use their mobile banks apps or other digital payment that's acceptable by those transporting them to receive money. Now that they have recieved Bitcoin, how do they start changing it since there won't be network in the desserts to start logging into exchange to trade the Bitcoin to the local currencies they would need to pay for their transportation and other things.

Stories like this troubles me because human life is very important and when people are stranded like your stories it shows how the people of African are suffering. Why aren't the government paying attention to the evacuation process of Nigerians over there, if this was American, by now their citizens would had been home.

From what you said, I don't believe this story even more. Maybe this story was created by OP to exaggerate the greatness of bitcoin rather than a true story with real meaning. Many people asked for a link to the article, but he still couldn't provide anything. Bitcoin is better than fiat in some cases but it is not god that can solve everything in the world.

Good enough that your friend has access to Bitcoin in the desert even though he/she can't really use Bitcoin in the desert but then it may sound like a relief that he has money in the form of Bitcoin in case he gets to a location where he can use Bitcoin to sustain.


Just like every other person has said, ops you may need to include a link to this story and if possible pictural evidence, I must say that on the note of Bitcoin's utility and borderlessness, it's awesome how Bitcoin has continues to build bring between users no matter their location.

The story of stranded escapees of war in the desert is quite touching. I have read and watched the news on news channels and social media and it is good that Bitcoin could reach your friend, let it remain to exchange it to the local currency to complete his journey.
One way Bitcoin could have been better is if it was a legal tender. Having the Bitcoin without being able to exchange it is a problem. You also mentioned issues of network. I wonder how he received the crypto in his wallet.
I do feel if he could educate and convince others with means to open a wallet and trade it for transportation of food, it would be better.

I saw that someone posted that this story is real, and a news website covered it. But OP presented it happened with his own friends, and he was able to help them. It would be best if you did not name a story as yours when it is not. OP did not write a single replay or answer a question from this thread. So, It's impossible to know the truth without having him answer here. Since we got the answer from another forum member, I am okay with that. But I will still suggest OP not to present a story like that. It seemed like OP's friends were trapped in the middle of the desert, and he helped them. He used "I", "We," and "us" in the OP, which makes it exclusively his own story while it's not.


https://www.mememaker.net/static/images/memes/4859312.jpg

We got the source BTW (https://www.vanguardngr.com/2023/04/sudan-how-nigerian-students-were-trapped-in-desert/)

Hey ok thank for sharing that source again and you can also check the first page to see the visual source included in the post, this comment is more friendly than you first comment on this topic which seem as if you were on an offensive side and perceive my message as fabrication even though one can easily  point out the paragraph were i mentioned that this was just a personal support toward a student friend of mine.


But anyways thanks for your contribution to this discussion and going forward I may just luck the thread to avoid any further drama and misconceptions.