Progress Recap: Survival Mode

Two more weeks of history. Here’s what the global picture actually looks like.

Nigeria tried to ban Bitcoin. Its citizens kept using it. Peer-to-peer volumes surged. The government eventually reversed course and began building a regulatory framework instead. When adoption is driven by genuine need, bans don’t work.

Argentina’s inflation made Bitcoin a savings account for ordinary people. Not speculation — protection. A currency losing 15% per month makes any alternative look rational.

Turkey’s lira crisis triggered a similar wave. Citizens converting wages to Bitcoin on payday not because of technology enthusiasm, but because they understood inflation better than almost anyone.

Iran legalised mining and used it to conduct international trade despite sanctions. The ethics are complicated. The technological demonstration is clear: Bitcoin is genuinely permissionless.

Ukraine received $100 million in crypto donations in the first weeks of war. Individual Ukrainians preserved savings through a conflict that froze traditional financial systems.

1.4 billion unbanked adults globally — the same properties that make Bitcoin valuable for investors make it transformative for people excluded from formal finance entirely.

Governments that have banned Bitcoin: mostly failed. Governments that have embraced it: mostly attracted capital and talent.

The energy debate: more nuanced than the headline criticism. More renewable than most industries. The cost is the mechanism of security.

For the complete history of how money fails — and why alternatives like Bitcoin emerge — this book maps every major collapse:

Flush the Fiat — amzn.to/4bAoBp5

Tomorrow: the Lightning torch — a human chain of trust across 56 countries.

— The Daily Bit