Afghanistan's first recorded bitcoin transaction?

Robert Viglione makes possibly the first recorded bitcoin transaction in Afghanistan.

AccessTimeIconJul 22, 2013 at 9:54 a.m. UTC
Updated Sep 10, 2021 at 11:27 a.m. UTC
10 Years of Decentralizing the Future
May 29-31, 2024 - Austin, TexasThe biggest and most established global hub for everything crypto, blockchain and Web3.Register Now

The sun beat down at a blistering 120 degrees in the Helmand desert. The air was dry and tense as the two bitcoin entrepreneurs, Adam Locklin and yours truly, shook hands and made a deal in bitcoin.

A Partagas robusto cigar traded hands, I sent Adam 0.1 BTC, and so concluded what we believe to be Afghanistan’s first recorded bitcoin transaction.

This simple trade comes with a few lessons if bitcoin is really going to work in Afghanistan and other remote parts of the developing world:

Most countries need an exchange

Adam and I were talking to a few local Afghans the other day, and despite their enthusiasm for the new currency, it dawned on me that they had no practical way of obtaining bitcoin. I could personally take Afghanis, or US dollars, and send over the equivalent BTC, but that didn’t seem like a big enough solution to a huge problem.

Afghanistan needs a local presence, whether it be bitcoin dealers in a modified Hawala concept, ATM’s in fixed locations, or Internet exchanges. The local dealer concept could catch on, given the region’s history with informal, trusted, peer-to-peer cash dealing. Most Afghans don’t have regular web access, and make use of public Internet cafes, so I don’t see exchanges like Mt. Gox, or Coinbase, working for the average Afghan just yet. Give it a ceasefire and a decade, and maybe things will change.

Once Afghans have bitcoin they need an easy way to spend it

I have the Blockchain app on my fancy iPhone, while Adam has a practical Roshan phone that works in Afghanistan. The two devices won’t talk to each other, so we still ended up doing a bitcoin-qt wallet computer transaction.

An African company, Kipochi, just released a bitcoin wallet that piggybacks on the popular M-Pesa cellular system already used by over 10 million people in both Africa and India. M-Pesa has already taken the first steps in integrating with the dominant cellular carrier in Afghanistan, Roshan, so it’s just a matter of time before a service like Kipochi hits the market.

When the average Afghan can easily access a bitcoin wallet over a cellular network, the rate of local adoption in this part of the world will accelerate significantly. Include a familiar method of trading Afghanis, or dollars, for BTC, and this could really take off.

Rob Viglione is a physicist turned economic consultant currently living as an expat in Afghanistan. He has earned an MBA in Finance & Marketing, the PMP certification, and is Founder and adviser to several tech start-ups around the world.

Disclosure

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.


Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk's longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.


Read more about