[2015-06-20] CD: Ben Parker: Bitcoin Has Potential in Fragile States

[Grand_Voyageur]

Ben Parker: Bitcoin Has Potential in Fragile States

Most of us are familiar with the argument that bitcoin could help the unbanked, but Ben Parker, co-founder and former director of humanitarian news service IRIN, has seen firsthand how the digital currency could play a crucial role in fragile states.

In 2013, Parker was director of communications for the United Nations (UN) in Somalia, and in 2012, he led the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for Syria in Damascus. Parker was also posted in Sudan as a UN communications officer from 2003 to 2006 and was closely involved with raising the alarm about the war in the Darfur region.

Having worked in humanitarian affairs and on the ground in conflict zones for the last 20 years, Parker provides a unique perspective on how bitcoin could succeed where it's perhaps needed most – in struggling developing nations.

Full story: http://www.coindesk.com/ben-parker-bitcoin-has-potential-in-fragile-states/

[1986]

It doesn't just have benefits in fragile states but fragile economies which even the first world could fall into if we have another financial collapse which I believe it's only a matter of time before one happens again if they're not careful. What I love about bitcoin is that it could really flourish in uncertain times and give us an alternative from the mainstream especially if the banks or powers that be run the economy or currencies into the ground buy inflation or quantitative easing etc.