Bitcoin Through Nepali Eyes

When people in developed nations talk about Bitcoin, they often frame it as a hedge against inflation, a portfolio diversifier, or a technology play. These are valid frames. But they miss the point.

When you grow up in Nepal — a country where the currency has lost over 90% of its value against the dollar in the last 40 years — you don’t need charts to understand monetary debasement. You see it in your parents’ faces when they check the exchange rate before sending money for school fees.

The remittance tax

Nepal is one of the most remittance-dependent countries in the world. Millions of Nepalis work abroad and send money home. Every transaction costs 5-10% in fees. Every exchange rate fluctuation erodes the value of months of hard labor.

Bitcoin fixes this. Not perfectly, not yet universally, but directionally. A Nepali worker in Qatar can send satoshis to Kathmandu in minutes, for fractions of a cent. No intermediary taking a cut. No bank deciding whether the transaction is “compliant.”

Sound money as ethics

The Bitcoin Standard isn’t just an economic argument. It’s an ethical one. When a government can print money at will, it’s taxing the future to fund the present. The people who bear the cost are always the ones least equipped to protect themselves — savers, workers, retirees.

Sound money respects human time. Every sat represents energy expended, work completed, value created. That’s not abstract if you’ve watched your family’s savings diminish through no fault of their own.

What I’m doing about it

I volunteer as a community manager for Vexl in the APAC region, helping people discover peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange. I’m active in the Australian Bitcoin Industry Body, working on policy and education. I attend conferences, run workshops, and have conversations with anyone willing to listen.

Not because I expect to get rich. Because I believe in a world where money works for everyone, not just those closest to the printer.