Nassim Taleb: Lebanon bank shutdown “most potent case” for crypto

The recent civil unrest in Lebanon has resulted in the shutting down of all banks in the country. Businesses and citizens are unable to access essential banking services. Cryptocurrency supporters are encouraging the Lebanese people to start using cryptocurrencies rather than fiat. In a recent twitter debate, commentators stated that the Lebanese population is still managing with no banking services available to them for more than a week.

The bank all over the country had shut down its services after the civil unrest. After six working days, a senior executive from a bank stated that the existing condition will not change until everything gets back to normal. Salim Sfeir, head of local lender Bank of Beirut, said:

Once normalcy is restored, we are very happy that we can resume servicing our customers in full capacity.

Previously, the ATMs were teeming with worried customers trying to take their wealth out. About 65% of Lebanese use banks, meaning two-thirds of Lebanon is without access to their personal funds. Nassim Taleb, a renowned Lebanese statistician and “The Black Swan” author, believes that the unrest is favorable and provids sufficient motivation to adopt crypto directly. In one of his tweets, he said:

The most potent case for cryptocurrencies: banks are never there when you need them. And they are trying to bully the public so they avoid accountability and profit disbursements. Bankers are legal crooks.