Roya Mahboob.

an Afghan tech entrepreneur and founder of the Afghan Citadel Software Company, has utilized Bitcoin to empower women in Afghanistan, providing them with financial independence in a society where traditional banking is often restricted.

Roya Mahboob is not a Christian. She may hold some views that we do not align with in our churches. However, we all agree that how some Muslim nations are currently abusing women is wrong. The fact that she found a way to support the oppressed in her community, that’s something to be admired.

Bitcoin provided a way for her to help women and girls support themselves and give back to their communities.

My heart is that the church will be able to use this tool to provide paths of success for Christians who are oppressed around the world.

See below for articles about how she was able to impact her community >>>

Consider, as you read, how Bitcoin might be useful in any oppressed communities in which your church (or missionaries your church supports) functions as caregivers and/or evangelists.

  • Bitcoin’s decentralized nature enables financial sovereignty, even in politically unstable or conflict-ridden environments.

    Murray Rudd

  • In 2013 she started using Bitcoin to pay women at her software company.

    Olso Freedom Forum 2021

  • At that time, there were a lot of, criminal[s] that, if they find out that you have a lot of money in the bank... it was more safe to go with a couple of men.... It was always when they make money, someone is taking from them, and then, and I wanted that they have a freedom of their, what they make it. And of course, I was totally supporting that you can support your families, but also for those who wanted to save it and wanted to keep it for their future, for their education, or for whatever they need it for, for their lives, it was good to keep it in that, there in digital wallet. So, we teach them about how to build up the e-wallet, and then how to keep Bitcoin.

    Unchained Crypto

  • Mahboob founded the Digital Citizen Fund, a nonprofit that aims to increase women’s technological literacy and provide employment and educational opportunities for girls in Afghanistan.

    Natalie Brunell

  • When a former business partner showered her an article about bitcoin, Mahboob took on the challenge of explaining the concept to users. Using an 8th century system of payments that 70% of Afghans still use, Mahboob successfully shifted her business into the most modern of 21st century payment types. "I think that they feel more empowered when they feel that they are in control [of] their finance."

    Forbes

  • While legally women could have bank accounts, culturally, many families did not trust banks. The system they trusted, hawalah, was actually an ancient non-technological system that resembles blockchain technology, in which money is transferred from one person to the next, each of whom trusts the next link in the chain. It’s basically an eighth-century version of Bitcoin.

    Forbes

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