Bitcoin's role in geopolitical conflict zones

[kotajikikox]

There are a lot of wars and conquering happening in the world. Some more well known than others. But all have people suffering. No matter from which side. But I got curious how could bitcoin play in such situations if there are conflicts happening in a specific area knowing that bitcoin is not governed by anyone and is borderless so it can reach other countries even if the authorities won't let usual transactions. Say if you wanted to send a donation to the Ukrainians for example, can you use bitcoin to do it? Has anyone tried it?

[_act_]

Say if you wanted to send a donation to the Ukrainians for example, can you use bitcoin to do it? Has anyone tried it?

This is one of the advantages of bitcoin. It will even make the cross border transaction to be very fast. This is how money should be, unlike the fiat that is controlled solely by the the government. Money should be like bitcoin and not fiat that is completely centrally controlled by the government. Bitcoin is often used in donations.

[Doan9269]

Say if you wanted to send a donation to the Ukrainians for example, can you use bitcoin to do it? Has anyone tried it?

Why not, despite the Sanction on Russia, you can send bitcoin donation to any citizen there as well, bitcoin is a decentralized currency and can be used in evading the consequence of receiving sanction, alternative, bitcoin can boos an economy that strictly adhere and run under its network, because its a profitable and a decentralized digital currency, which can be owned, used or given to anyone without a barrier, it deals with the blockchain technology and not the centralized internet service run by the governments.

[Jet Cash]

Of course you can transfer coins into any valid wallet address, but the real question is - Can the owner of that address access the coins, and can he use them?

[Haunebu]

Many have sent donations to Ukraine in recent times using BTC and other popular crypto which is why this isn't exactly something new and tough to execute op primarily thanks to their decentralised and anonymous(To a certain extent) nature.

BTC is sadly used for nefarious reasons more often when compared to good reasons overall and this logic applies to other popular cryptocurrencies too.

[Dunamisx]

Of course you can transfer coins into any valid wallet address, but the real question is - Can the owner of that address access the coins, and can he use them?

Yes if the person is found within the unaffected areas in the country and can get Internet access, use his device and alhabe access to his wallet as well.

Also, if he's experienced enough and try to use a decentralized exchange to convert his Bitcoin to fiat, secondly, if he can get a reliable escrow for his transaction to any local currency of his choice, while he can also spend bitcoin online in buying online good items or services, but may not be able to use bitcoin for local transactions, because of the affected areas.

[retreat]

-snip-
Say if you wanted to send a donation to the Ukrainians for example, can you use bitcoin to do it? Has anyone tried it?

Of course, you can transfer it, as long as the recipient has internet access, whether to Ukraine, Venezuela, or wherever you want. That's the advantage of Bitcoin, you can send it across countries without intermediaries, quickly, and relatively cheaply compared to conventional transfer systems. You can see that when the Ukrainian war was raging, many people donated their Bitcoin to Ukraine; that's one example of how Bitcoin can be used for donations.

[lovesmayfamilis]

I don't think the OP is a newbie to tell you that to transfer funds from one person to another, you need the recipient's address. It doesn't matter if there is a war or some other catastrophe; the bitcoin will be transferred to the recipient as long as there is internet. These two conditions apply to all situations and locations involving the sender and recipient.

[The Cryptovator]

There are a lot of wars and conquering happening in the world. Some more well known than others. But all have people suffering. No matter from which side. But I got curious how could bitcoin play in such situations if there are conflicts happening in a specific area knowing that bitcoin is not governed by anyone and is borderless so it can reach other countries even if the authorities won't let usual transactions. Say if you wanted to send a donation to the Ukrainians for example, can you use bitcoin to do it? Has anyone tried it?

In such cases donations should be organised by the government or a non-profit organisation. There won't be any opportunities to donate in person unless you have a friend or know a person there. Whoever has a Bitcoin address can receive Bitcoin from anywhere in the world. So yes, you can donate to Ukraine if the above conditions are met. I haven't tried yet but have heard people donated through Bitcoin.

This is an advantage of Bitcoin, and this is the goal of Bitcoin: you can make borderless transactions. It doesn't matter what the purpose of sending money is; you are able to send money without any third-party involvement.

[ThemePen]

That is excellent question and yes Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies used for send money to conflict zones means Ukraine. When war started it was difficult to use normal banks but crypto borderless nature allowed people all over world to send donations directly to Ukrainian government and aid groups. This was much faster and lower fees than traditional bank transfers. Amount of crypto donated was huge showing power of crypto community to act fast in crisis. And this same feature which make crypto good for donations but it also makes it concern for governments because it can be used to avoid sanctions. So use of Bitcoin in conflicts show its potential for good but also challenges it creates for control and regulation.

[bitLeap]

Say if you wanted to send a donation to the Ukrainians for example, can you use bitcoin to do it? Has anyone tried it?

Wasn't it when the war first broke out that the Ukrainian president announced that he was accepting donations via crypto? If I'm not mistaken, someone on this forum even posted the news, including the official public address. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure I read it here.

However, we also need to remember that the conflict of war affects the price of bitcoin, creating global sentiment because not only bitcoin, but stock prices are also falling, and people are withdrawing money to buy as much food, drink, and clothing as possible in order to survive during the war.

[hd49728]

Of course you can transfer coins into any valid wallet address, but the real question is - Can the owner of that address access the coins, and can he use them?

People only can access bitcoins if they have Bitcoin private keys but if you ask the receiver about his receiving address for a coming transaction from you, you can not know whether he has its private key or not. You can ask him but basically it is not your business. He must be responsible of what he does in bitcoin storage and you only need to send your bitcoin to that address and fullfil your responsibility in the trade.

Reminder: do not keep your money in online accounts. It is a reminder about risk of non control and non access to your bitcoins if you store them in a centralized exchange or online platform.

[Jawhead999]

This thread was the example Donate to Ukraine

The problem of donation to conflict zones is they have the coins/money, but there are no sellers who sell primary needs. They have the coins, but the sellers not want to accept cryptocurrency as the payment etc.

It's more make sense to use Bitcoin as a donation for poor people rather than conflict zones.

[snipie]

Of course you can transfer coins into any valid wallet address, but the real question is - Can the owner of that address access the coins, and can he use them?

They can theoretically after sending it to intermediate addresses and mixing it but the real question for me is how to be sure you are not being tracked by enemies intelligence for example. I mean you support country X by Bitcoin but your data is exposed and intelligence can track you especially if you use the same addresses or wrote them in a post here or social media.
I believe Bitcoin is a minor currency in conflicts. After the $, we have other FIAT, then drugs, then gold and metals, then cryptocurrencies with privacy mode ON.

[Alvin_talk]

There are a lot of wars and conquering happening in the world. Some more well known than others. But all have people suffering. No matter from which side. But I got curious how could bitcoin play in such situations if there are conflicts happening in a specific area knowing that bitcoin is not governed by anyone and is borderless so it can reach other countries even if the authorities won't let usual transactions. Say if you wanted to send a donation to the Ukrainians for example, can you use bitcoin to do it? Has anyone tried it?

Yes, Bitcoin has already been used for that. During the early stages of the war in Ukraine, I remember seeing reports that millions were donated in BTC and other cryptos because it was faster than traditional banking channels. Of course, it’s not always perfect, internet access and converting it to local currency can still be a challenge in conflict zones. But the fact that money could cross borders instantly without needing banks shows exactly why Bitcoin was created. https://www.chainalysis.com/blog/russia-ukraine-war-cryptocurrency-one-year/

[Webetcoins]

Due to it's decentralized nature, bitcoins will not be affected by these geopolitical conflicts. Maybe the prices may fluctuate as people might start panicking but it will not affect the primary functions of bitcoins in any way.

People will still be able to transact or send bitcoins to anyone they wish around the globe. Specific countries engaged in such war like situations will definitely force centralized wallets & exchanges to stop any foreign transactions but there are still a number of decentralized wallets/exchanges which will still be into effect.

You can always use a decentralized wallet to send donations in countries where transacting from your country is not allowed.

I'm pretty sure almost everyone who has a will to donate might have tried this considering the limitations placed by the governs. I did see a lot of bitcoin campaigns going on with Ukraine-Russia war like situations.

[Marvell1]

Wasn't it when the war first broke out that the Ukrainian president announced that he was accepting donations via crypto? If I'm not mistaken, someone on this forum even posted the news, including the official public address. Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm sure I read it here.

As far as I remember, what you said is true.

However, we also need to remember that the conflict of war affects the price of bitcoin, creating global sentiment because not only bitcoin, but stock prices are also falling, and people are withdrawing money to buy as much food, drink, and clothing as possible in order to survive during the war.

However, it depends on the scale of the war and the countries involved, not every war affects the price of bitcoin or the financial markets like the war between Russia and Ukraine. Because this is not only a war between two neighboring countries but also a proxy war between world powers.
In addition, Russia and Ukraine are also significant contributors to the economy as Russia is the world's leading exporter of oil and gas. Meanwhile, Ukraine is a large and important wheat exporter on the global market.

Only wars that have a negative impact on the global situation can affect bitcoin and the financial markets.

[pooya87]

Of course, one of the usages of bitcoin is for receiving donations and because it can happen globally and it has no restrictions it makes it very useful for this particular case (financial aid to people in warzones). On top of that, another feature that makes bitcoin stand out is its cheap transactions and the fact that you can send any amount. For example you can make a $0.5 dollar donation and pay the same fee as if you made a $1 mil donation. Using banks, you usually can't send such small amounts and you also will have to pay a much higher fee that increases based on your transferred amount.

[Catenaccio]

Of course, one of the usages of bitcoin is for receiving donations and because it can happen globally and it has no restrictions it makes it very useful for this particular case (financial aid to people in warzones). On top of that, another feature that makes bitcoin stand out is its cheap transactions and the fact that you can send any amount. For example you can make a $0.5 dollar donation and pay the same fee as if you made a $1 mil donation. Using banks, you usually can't send such small amounts and you also will have to pay a much higher fee that increases based on your transferred amount.

Restrictions are unavailable with receiving and they are only available with spendings. Governments only can set up traps, order companies in their countries to freeze your bitcoins if you deposit your bitcoins to centralized platforms which know source of your bitcoin or your identity. It's still kind of having reasons for freezing your coins while centralized platforms can freeze your coins even without any reason, or they can steal your coin immediately when you already fell to their honeypot scam traps.

Reminder: do not keep your money in online accounts.
Events made you scare about custodial wallets, centralized exchanges.

[Rgram]

how could bitcoin play in such situations if there are conflicts happening in a specific area knowing that bitcoin is not governed by anyone and is borderless so it can reach other countries even if the authorities won't let usual transactions.

Bitcoin is no partisan to world politics, wars and just what ever you might think of. War is bad as we know it but, Bitcoin isn’t known to take sides in this. It is a currency and should you have the technology to access the network, you could as well access it for a currency and store of value.
I think the most Bitcoin could do here is be used alongside fiat money, should there be disruption of flow from the central banks to commercial banks and individuals, Bitcoin can cut in on this.