Confession from a Syrian Refugee: Bitcoin Might Not Be a Panacea, but It Changed My Life

Other than Bitcoin Pizza Day, have you heard any other stories related to Bitcoin? Syrian tech entrepreneur Tey Elrjula shared his story with the public on blockchain media Coindesk, explaining how Bitcoin has changed his life and his refugee status.

Breaking Through the Current Monetary System

Tey Elrjula is a tech entrepreneur, refugee, and the author of the book "The Invisible Son," which tells the true story of his personal journey from being a forgotten refugee to reclaiming his identity, detailing all the twists, misfortunes, and transformations he encountered.

Additionally, Tey Elrjula is an early adopter of Bitcoin and has founded a startup called tech4good, dedicated to using blockchain to break down financial and identity barriers.

On July 9, Tey Elrjula published an article on Coindesk, explaining how Bitcoin has changed his life and his refugee status. In the article, Tey Elrjula wrote:

"Bitcoin can fulfill any of your needs. Despite facing various difficulties, I could still use it to order pizza and build real businesses."

Introduced to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in 2013 by a Dutch software engineer, Tey Elrjula views Bitcoin not as a speculative or financial tool, but as a currency, a store of value, and an alternative for cross-border payments as a refugee.

"My idea is that if we create money through code, then money becomes a form of communication, and its value represents the community."

Due to his work in the Netherlands, Tey Elrjula used to send money to his family in Lebanon twice a week, facing long waits and high fees for each transfer. Additionally, many individuals are excluded from the financial system under current services; for example, some in Saudi Arabia lack residency permits and cannot send money to family in India or Pakistan. However, Bitcoin has no such restrictions and does not require high transaction fees.

Technology Will Save Humanity

In 2014, Tey Elrjula faced significant changes in his life as his residency permit in Europe expired at the end of the year, coinciding with severe unrest in his homeland of Lebanon. Finding himself stateless, without a bank account, and forced into refugee status, Tey Elrjula told his parents he was living in a beautiful European apartment, waiting for the immigration office to update his permit, when in reality, he was living in a refugee camp with others.

Despite this, Tey Elrjula did not lose hope and continued to communicate with an Egyptian software engineer and early Bitcoin adopter through Facebook. His constant exposure to cryptocurrencies led him to become a news reporter on Bitcoin and blockchain, an OTC intermediary, and even a prominent Bitcoin speaker in the Netherlands. Gradually, Tey Elrjula's "Bitcoin identity" helped him break free from the seemingly inescapable "refugee identity." In his words:

"For centuries, money and identity have been inseparable, but I can use Bitcoin without an identity. Besides my email, I don't need anything else to spend my assets or engage in digital transactions."

However, Tey Elrjula emphasizes that people still need an "identity" to present themselves to the world and interact with services like education, diplomas, healthcare, vaccines, and cross-border travel. Yet, he believes that technology will ultimately improve existing systems, leading to a world where people live in a "less trust, more verification" environment.

"Bitcoin may not be a panacea, but one thing is certain: it has changed my life."