In times of crisis, the Egyptians also discovered Bitcoin as a source of income.
While the Corona crisis has also plunged the Egyptian economy into crisis and unemployment is rising in the country, more and more Egyptians are seeing trading and mining of Bitcoin as a possible source of income.
According to Al-Monitor , many Egyptians, especially young people, are now interested in crypto currencies.
Wael al-Nahhas, an economist and financial advisor for several investment firms in Egypt, explains:
“Many young Egyptians have started investing small sums of money, even though the Bitcoin price has gone up. They also mine Satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin, which corresponds to a 100-millionth, and make a daily 4 – 5% profit from the differences between the buying and selling prices when demand is particularly high or particularly low. In addition, there are gains from unexpected price jumps in Bitcoin.“
Unemployment in Egypt rose from 7.7% in the first quarter of 2020 to 9.6% in the second quarter. So almost half a million Egyptians lost their jobs, as the latest official figures from the Federal Statistical Office of Egypt show.
No wonder Bitcoin trading has become a thriving business.
Muhammad Abd el-Baseer, a Bitcoin miner and member of the Bitcoin Egypt Community, sees other factors that have contributed to the cryptocurrency’s increasing popularity. Increased home office, short-time working and curfew have all contributed to giving Egyptians more opportunities to invest in Bitcoin. According to his estimate, the Bitcoin Egypt community has gained more than 16,000 new members during this time. He assumes that there are far more people interested in crypto, as the members can in turn pass their knowledge on to friends and family.
Of course, with the newly won crypto euphoria, the legal uncertainty in the Egyptian community about trading Bitcoin is also increasing. However, there should already be initial talks about a new law that would form a legal framework for crypto currencies.