I was just think about my trip through Laos about 20 years ago. I exchanged a few hundred USD and they gave me a HUGE wad of Kip. It really was like monopoly money.
I went to Laos, decades ago. Wow, was that an interesting trip. The official exchange rate was a fraction of the black market rate, so after asking around I went to the market. At the gold shop, they also traded for USD.
It wasn't even a hush hush thing, it seemed pretty open.
I remember that they weren't thrilled with my 20 dollar bills. They wanted 50 or 100 dollar bills. And they HAD to be nice and clean.
Wow what a nuanced portrait of Bitcoin's journey in Laos. Its striking how a strategy built on hydro power export turned into a vulnerability during drought. The energy crunch and sudden suspension of mining shows the fragility of balancing big tech initiatives with basic infrastructure needs. Their experimental regulatory framework sounds promising on paper six licensed outfits high security deposits but execution is another story in a country wrestling with corruption and enforcement gaps. Still the grassroots spark Lao meetups local content creators and even Nostr activity offers a glimpse of a people quietly building a sound money lifeline against a backdrop of censorship and debt. Powerful story
I was just think about my trip through Laos about 20 years ago. I exchanged a few hundred USD and they gave me a HUGE wad of Kip. It really was like monopoly money.
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I'm sure it is! All they do is make the denominations larger. 10k to 100k to 1m. It's that easy.
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I went to Laos, decades ago. Wow, was that an interesting trip. The official exchange rate was a fraction of the black market rate, so after asking around I went to the market. At the gold shop, they also traded for USD.
It wasn't even a hush hush thing, it seemed pretty open.
I remember that they weren't thrilled with my 20 dollar bills. They wanted 50 or 100 dollar bills. And they HAD to be nice and clean.
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Wow what a nuanced portrait of Bitcoin's journey in Laos. Its striking how a strategy built on hydro power export turned into a vulnerability during drought. The energy crunch and sudden suspension of mining shows the fragility of balancing big tech initiatives with basic infrastructure needs. Their experimental regulatory framework sounds promising on paper six licensed outfits high security deposits but execution is another story in a country wrestling with corruption and enforcement gaps. Still the grassroots spark Lao meetups local content creators and even Nostr activity offers a glimpse of a people quietly building a sound money lifeline against a backdrop of censorship and debt. Powerful story
I haven't made it to Laos yet but I've noticed some places on the btcmap I hope to get to soon!
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