Roya Mahboob is an entrepreneur from Afghanistan. She became one of the first female tech CEOs in the country. She founded the Afghan Citadel Software Company, where she created jobs for university graduates, especially women, hiring them as software engineers, coders, and digital content creators.
She also founded the Digital Citizen Fund, a non-profit working to increase technological literacy among girls in Afghanistan and provide them with job opportunities.
But her story wasn’t smooth.
In Afghanistan, women are treated as second-class citizens. Things like opening a bank account or running a business are privileges reserved for men or women from elite families.
For Roya, starting her business wasn’t just about creating jobs. She was going against a broken system. Local banks and authorities saw her as a threat. Her business accounts were frozen. Payments blocked. She couldn’t even pay her employees.
But then something changed. She discovered Bitcoin.
And that changed everything.
How Bitcoin Empowered Roya and Many Others
Bitcoin allowed Roya to pay her employees instantly, bypassing the banks and government that were trying to shut her down.
She was able to keep her business running. She didn’t need permission from anyone.
With Bitcoin, she could hire and pay women who otherwise wouldn’t have had bank accounts. Suddenly, they had financial freedom. They could earn money, control it, and build their lives.
And the world noticed.
Roya Mahboob was named one of the top 100 most influential people by Time Magazine. Not because of Bitcoin itself, but because of how she used Bitcoin to empower women who were being locked out of their economy.
Roya’s story shows us something important.
Bitcoin isn’t just a currency. It’s a tool for freedom. It’s a tool for economic empowerment. It’s a survival tool in broken systems.
And Roya’s story is just one example.
Let me show you a few more.
Scenario 1: Fighting Inflation as a Small Business in Zimbabwe
Imagine you’re running a small shop in Zimbabwe.
In 2024, Zimbabwe experienced 561% inflation. To break it down: if you were selling bread for KES 50 at the start of the year, by the end of the year, that same bread would be KES 330.
Over five times more expensive.
To stay in business, you’d have to raise your prices, too. Not because you want to, but because the local currency keeps losing value.
That’s the only way to survive.
But Bitcoin changes this.
Bitcoin has a fixed supply: 21 million coins. That’s it.
Because it’s scarce, and as more people adopt it, Bitcoin’s value tends to rise over time. This makes Bitcoin deflationary. Its purchasing power grows, not shrinks.
Instead of saving your profits in fiat, where inflation eats away your value, save in Bitcoin. Your value is preserved.
That’s how you protect your business in a collapsing economy.
Scenario 2: Getting Paid When Sanctions Block You
Now, picture this.
You’re running an agency of virtual assistants, and some of your clients are in Iran. Then, something happens. Political tensions flare up. Sanctions hit.
Your clients are suddenly cut off from PayPal, Visa, MasterCard, and even SWIFT. How do you get paid?
Simple: Bitcoin.
Instead of losing your clients, onboard them to Bitcoin. Show them how to buy Bitcoin and use it to pay you. Use the Lightning Network for fast, cheap transactions.
Once you receive Bitcoin, you can:
- Pay your team directly in Bitcoin,
- Or convert it to Kenyan shillings using platforms like Tando, which sends payments straight to M-Pesa.
Bitcoin breaks down financial barriers that politics builds up.
Scenario 3: Losing Everything Overnight
Let’s get closer to home.
Joan ran an electronics shop at OTC in Nairobi’s CBD. During the recent Gen Z protests, the Mandamanos, her shop, was looted. She lost stock worth 4 million shillings.
She didn’t have insurance.
When she went to the bank for a loan, she was turned away. Why? No collateral left. No cash flow. Her business was dead. Just like that.
But what if she had been saving in Bitcoin?
If Joan had built up Bitcoin savings over the years, even small percentages of her profits, her story would be different. She’d have a reserve fund whose value wasn’t eroded by inflation, frozen by banks, or wiped out by riots.
She could withdraw from her Bitcoin wallet, restock, relocate, and restart.
No begging banks. No starting from zero.
Bitcoin could have saved her livelihood.
Why Bitcoin Is a Real Business Tool
Through Roya’s story, through Zimbabwe’s inflation, through Iran’s sanctions, and through Joan’s loss, one thing becomes clear:
Bitcoin is not just a speculative asset.
It’s a survival tool.
For any entrepreneur serious about protecting their business, Bitcoin provides:
- A way to store value long-term,
- Protection against currency devaluation
- A censorship-resistant payment network,
- And a backup plan when traditional systems fail.
Bitcoin has even been recognized as the best-performing asset over the past decade.
If you want your business to survive chaos and crisis, Bitcoin isn’t optional anymore.
How to Start Using Bitcoin in Your Business
So, what’s next? You don’t need to overhaul your whole business. Start small.
Here’s how:
1. Set Up a Bitcoin Wallet
Your first step is to create a Bitcoin wallet, a place to store your payments and savings. Use self-custodial wallets like:
- Machankura (works even without internet),
- Blue Wallet,
- Phoenix Wallet,
- Or Moon Wallet.
With self-custodial wallets, you hold your private keys. Meaning, you control your money.
2. Educate Your Team
Don’t go alone. Train your staff and people in your ecosystem to understand and use Bitcoin. The more people around you use Bitcoin, the more powerful it becomes for your business.
3. Start Accepting Bitcoin Payments
You can:
- Let customers pay directly to your Bitcoin wallet.
- Or, for larger-scale operations, use tools like BTCPay Server. It helps you track payments, manage customers, generate invoices, and run your financials, all using Bitcoin.
4. Use Bitcoin as Your Savings Account
Stop storing profits in fiat currency that loses value.
Start saving in Bitcoin.
It’s like a savings account, but instead of barely keeping up with inflation, your money actually grows over time.
5. Use Bitcoin When Traditional Systems Fail
If banks block you, if the system breaks down, or if sanctions hit, switch to Bitcoin.
You can:
- Buy Bitcoin via Bitika or Bitnob,
- Convert back to Fiat using Tando when necessary.
Bitcoin is your business’s backup plan.
A Final Thought
Let me close with a quote from Bitcoin educator Jimmy Song:
“Bitcoin enables you to opt out of a system that steals from you. As a business, that’s not just smart, it’s survival.”
In today’s unpredictable world, that’s what you need: survival.
And Bitcoin gives you that.
If you want help getting started, BitBiashara is here. We help businesses and individuals onboard to Bitcoin. We educate. We guide. We help you protect your work and your wealth.
Bitcoin is the future of money. And the sooner you get started, the better.