How Sanctioned Economies and Cash-Strapped Nations Pushed Crypto Into the Mainstream (opens in new tab)

Not long ago, digital money lived in a narrow corner of the internet. It was the domain of forum threads, mining rigs humming in basements, and traders who treated price charts the way other people treat sports scores. Today, that same currency sits squarely inside serious geopolitical conversation: central banks debate digital reserves, sanctioned economies in Russia and Iran lean on crypto to skirt Western restrictions, and countries deep in IMF negotiations — from Pakistan to Argentina — w...