No Country for Old Money
In Issue #019 we saw how 329,000 refugees had used Bitcoin to set up their lives in a new country.
After that was released, I got a message from a stranger saying “Thank you so much for your report. I’m one of them.” I asked if he would like his story to be shared in this newsletter and he generously agreed. Warning: what follows is the incredible, sometimes heart-wrenching, story of how “the other half lives” in ways we can barely begin to imagine, and how Bitcoin is making a real difference to their lives.
Imagine waking up one Saturday morning to find that the money you’ve saved for decades is worthless. Not worth less, actually worthless - because the government decreed without warning you that it was no longer legal tender.
No problem, I still have my money in the bank right? No. This is Burma in 1987. The banking system is virtually non-existent. You have your savings in pieces of paper currency, stored securely in your home. Now those pieces of paper are literally just pieces of paper.
That nightmare became a reality for many in Myanmar (Burma) on September 5, 1987. Out of the blue, Ne Win, head of the military junta, demonetized the 25, 35, and 75 kyat notes (aka: made them worthless by decree overnight).
For three-quarters of Burmese citizens who held most of their savings in these denominations in an era when banks were seldom used for saving, their life savings evaporated overnight. Of course, if you were an insider with close ties to the ruling military, you’d have received a tip off and have already converted your Burmese cash into hard assets like gold and real estate.
This demonetization laid the foundation for decades of economic instability. In the case of Win Ko Ko Aung, born six years later, it meant he was born into poverty as a direct result of the ruling government’s control of the monetary system (a power that democratic governments also have, but most people trust them not to use this power).
Despite growing up in the central commercial city of Yangon and gaining early exposure to the Internet, his life was defined by control. Electricity was intermittent, and the government held a monopoly over telecommunications. Internet access was prohibitively expensive and restricted, with the regime actively spreading propaganda that discouraged youth use.
Hope arrived in 2011 with the transition to a democratic government, followed by the historic visit of President Barack Obama the next year. Inspired by the changing landscape and the influx of multinational companies that ensued, Aung decided to forgo the path of many peers, moving to countries like Singapore or Korea for more stable currency income. However, he ended participating in the nation’s democratic revolution.
In 2018, he was selected as the Southeast Asia Youth Leader and got an opportunity to travel to the USA for a 3-month fellowship. Once there, he taught Internet and digital literacy to African American kids in South Chicago.
Coming back from the USA inspired, he established a successful digital technology company promoting literacy across the country. He was making an impact in society while earning a good income. However, he couldn’t see a great financial future against the backdrop of currency devaluation. As he recounts
“I was making money, not in USD or in Singapore dollar, but in Myanmar Kyat, which is like melting ice cubes. I was making money, but mathematically speaking, I was never going to be able to buy a house, unless I would make a 100% increase in income, year after year.”
To preserve his wealth, he initially explored gold (too inconvenient to redeem) and savings in USD in a bank account. Though he had previously dismissed Bitcoin in 2015 and 2017 after encountering negative mainstream media coverage, his desperate need for a stable financial solution compelled him to investigate decentralized digital assets. He eventually invested a portion of his savings across Bitcoin and other digital assets.
The digital silencing of dissent
On February 1 2021, government intervention changed the trajectory of Aung’s life for a second time. The Burmese military staged a coup, erasing a decade of democratic progress. Aung, now a social entrepreneur with over 500,000 followers on his Facebook page, was one of the leaders in the decentralized democracy movement. He used his following to marshall followers to protest the military takeover.
The military junta weaponized the centralized financial system to exert control over Aung and others. Aung awoke one day to find he had been locked out of his bank account, losing all his USD savings.
Happily, his Bitcoin and other digital assets remained safe because the government couldn’t gain access.
Other major voices in the movement faced similar lockouts or outright arrest. One supporter was sentenced to seven to ten years in jail for making $10 contribution to the pro-democracy movement.
By April 2021, Aung was on the country’s Most Wanted List. Fearing for his life, he fled, crossing the border into Thailand and seeking refuge. He was later granted asylum and resettled in the United States, where his advocacy continued. However, an interview with Voice of America, conducted in the Burmese language, alerted the military to his continued activism via his Facebook platform.
The regime responded by arresting his elderly mother. Her freedom was eventually negotiated on two explicit conditions: that Aung cease his advocacy activities and, most critically, that he delete his Facebook account. Fearing for his mother’s safety, he abided - losing all 500,000 followers instantly. This silenced his primary digital platform, in an illustration of how authoritarian regimes’ playbook of weaponizing financial and familial ties to suppress dissent.
A tool for human rights advancement
In the U.S, Aung secured menial jobs but simultaneously deepened his understanding of Bitcoin. He later joined the Human Rights Foundation, shifting his focus to international human rights and Bitcoin advocacy, which he has done since.
Today, Aung is one of the hundreds of thousands of refugees who have been able to use Bitcoin to preserve and transport wealth during crises. He notes
“I support Bitcoin, especially for activists and democracy movements, because with other cryptocurrencies, you need to constantly worry. There are a lot of risks. You’ll be worried about what their marketing team is going to do, what the founder is going to do. A lot of political influence also impacts the assets, and governments can block transactions to activists.”
To him, Bitcoin represents freedom, particularly for those under oppressive regimes. Its uncensorable nature makes it uniquely suited for activists and decentralized movements, allowing for support and communication that cannot be easily blocked or seized by state authorities.
More importantly, his journey led him to a crucial realization: while stablecoins also offered value preservation, Bitcoin’s true decentralization means it has no single founder or central entity that governments can identify and compel to enforce their will, a significant advantage over other digital assets.
Having personally experienced the effects of monetary collapse, real-time asset demonetization, and the total loss of all personal savings, Aung’s trust in Bitcoin is born out of experience and necessity, not ideology. Furthermore, his firsthand experience of starting a new life in a new country was immediately supported by Bitcoin donated by fellow advocates, empowering him to get on his feet faster. The stories of people like Aung show us that Bitcoin is much more than an investment - it is a tool for human progression, a bulwark against authoritarian control.
So the next time you hear someone say “Bitcoin has no use” - know that what they are actually saying, whether knowingly or unknowingly, is “The lives of people like Aung don’t matter.” The viewpoint is not progressive, it is reactionary: born out of either prejudice, ignorance, or a failure to extend either their imagination or their cognitive bandwidth outside of their Western bubble of comfort and privilege.
Don’t get angry with such people, after all I used to be that ignorant person myself. Rather, educate them with stories like this one that show the gaps in their perception.
Top Pick
Remember the old debate about Bitcoin’s evolution: whether it should become a store of value first, a medium of exchange, or both at once? Well, check this out. In South Africa, Bitcoin can now be used to pay for almost anything across the country, from groceries to services, through a network of over 650,000 merchants accepting Bitcoin payments, thanks to a company called Money Badger.
Customers can pay instantly by scanning a QR code with the MoneyBadger app or a participating wallet, using their Bitcoin Lightning or exchange account. This removes the need to first convert crypto to fiat, simplifying the use of Bitcoin for daily purchases, while merchants still receive settlement in rands. As one businessman from Cape Town states
‘I confirm, you can live almost 100% on Bitcoin already in South Africa.’
Finally, we have an affirmative answer to that debate: Bitcoin is money. In South Africa, we can store value and use it as a medium of exchange in parallel, today!
Top Trailblazer
Soluna Holdings has initiated a new data center called Project Kati, in Willacy County, South Texas, in line with its mission to solve one of renewable energy’s biggest challenges: wasted energy. The facility is designed to run bitcoin mining and AI on stranded renewable energy from the nearby Las Majadas Wind projects. The data center will operate as a “flexible load,” adapting its energy consumption to grid conditions. The project aims to provide 166 megawatts of computing capacity for Bitcoin upon completion.
Close by, another one of its already established ventures, called Project Dorothy, will be receiving an operational boost following the recently agreed partnership with Canaan Inc., a leading ASIC miner creator. Canaan will deploy 20MW of bitcoin miners, representing approximately 1EH/s of computing capacity, effectively reinforcing Soluna’s model of renewable computing.
Top Features
Earlier this month, I joined Bram Kanstein to explore the three powerful forces driving Bitcoin’s rapid adoption in 2025, and share why I believe the next 18 months will redefine Bitcoin’s role in energy, finance, and ESG.
I also hopped onto the Once Bitten: A Bitcoin Podcast and had an interesting conversation with Daniel Prince and his daughter to explain how I went from impact investing to using Bitcoin mining to cut methane emissions, reduce waste, power renewables, and even help nations to gain financial independence from institutions like the IMF.
If the story inspired you, and you know people who still haven’t heard how Bitcoin is helping human flourishing, please share Aung’s story with them.
See you next letter!
Amazing pair of articles! This one showing the specific impacts of Aung and the previous one showing that this is not a one-off example, but it's happening at scale. This is exactly the kind of thing that people need to hear. We need hope, and a story that show how it's possible to fight authoritarians gives us this. It also is a sobering reminder of what people may have to face in countries with rising authoritarianism.
Best of all, thanks to your new model, I can share this with non-subscribers. :pray: