Forget Prices, Ethereum Is Offering a Different Value in Afghanistan

Young women coders in Afghanistan are getting a chance to use ethereum's cryptocurrency.

Revealed exclusively to CoinDesk, Code to Inspire, a non-profit for teaching women in Afghanistan to write code, has partnered with the Bounties Network to allow students to accept ether for fixing vulnerabilities for businesses or projects posting bounties.

According to Fereshteh Forough, the founder of CTI, the women have already begun earning the second largest cryptocurrency by total value.

While Forough didn't expand on how much ether altogether has been collected by the women, this isn't her first foray into facilitating crypto payments to remote workers in Afghanistan.

Ether is unlikely to fare much better in these conditions, but regardless, Forough believes exposing the women to ether has priceless educational value.

"I personally think it is good to have digital literacy or financial literacy, the knowledge, especially for women in Afghanistan that are limited from accessing a lot of financial resources, such as banks," Forough said.

An Afghan-American bitcoin enthusiast who works with communities in her homeland, isn't super optimistic about the prospects for ether in Afghanistan.

If sarafis got involved, people might move over to cryptocurrency as a long-term store of value rather than putting their savings in gold and other physical goods, which can lead to a number of issues, like they do today, Gak said.

Still, even with much development to be done in Afghanistan to make it ripe for cryptocurrency adoption, Forough sees the partnership with Bounties Network to give her students an introduction to ether is a beneficial step on a long road towards financial independence.

Herat is the third-largest city in Afghanistan and home to CTI, although the nonprofit will allow women to take classes or work online, instead of coming into the office.