Marshall Long, an OG bitcoiner, recounted how he had to resort to stablecoins to send a remittance to a worker’s family in Iran. Long noted that stablecoins, rather than bitcoin, are more useful during times of strenuous conflict due to the availability of fiat ramps.
Stablecoins, Not Bitcoin, Completed This Tricky Remittance
A story posted on social media highlighted the relevance of stablecoins over bitcoin as wartime tools for remittances. Marshall Long, an OG bitcoiner and current Director of Product Development at Auradine, shared how he had to resort to stablecoins to complete remittances to Iran, a country embroiled in conflict with Israel.
Long stated that the family of one of his Iranian workers, an electrician, went to Tehran to visit relatives and became trapped as the conflict erupted between the two countries. Nonetheless, the electrician needed to send funds to them, and surprisingly, bitcoin was not even considered for the task.
Long explained:
We were able to get her money through an on the ground broker. We had to send TRC-20 USDT which I have avoided like the plague. But after swapping, and defying, and sushi’ing or whatever tf, we finally got her money in hand.
Long questioned whether stablecoins shone brighter than the first cryptocurrency in times of immediate conflict, expressing puzzlement over why these ground brokers preferred to use stablecoins instead of bitcoin.
“Can someone please explain why Bitcoin could not have done this? During conflict, are people that worried about overnight price exposure?” he wondered.
Answers attributed this preference to the stability of stablecoins compared to the often volatile value of bitcoin, as well as the speed at which money could be transferred, which is almost instant when using USDT on Tron rails. In contrast, a bitcoin transaction would take more time to be received and confirmed.
The popularity of stablecoins during periods of high inflation and challenging times is not new; it has been observed in countries like Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, and several African nations, as they are considered easy-to-acquire dollar proxies.
“Very surreal experience. I feel like I need to learn A LOT more,” Long concluded, having learnt that bitcoin is not a one-size-fits-all solution.
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