The Order

On Friday, February 11th, 2022 Biden signed an executive order to release $7 billion in seized Afghan central bank reserves. Why did the Fed have these funds in the first place you ask? Well, according to The Guardian, when the Taliban took over Afghanistan the US was concerned about who was "legally authorized" to access said funds. So they just seized all $7 billion (for your reference the exact amount is $7,045,632,402.79 as stated in a letter from the DOJ to Judge Daniels and Judge Netburn.) However, it appears the real reason was that plaintiffs in the Havlish Case, a case where the affected individuals of the 9/11 attacks sued the Taliban and other foreign actors like Bin Laden and the Islamic Republic of Iran, persuaded the judge to issue a Writ of Execution to the Federal Reserve in September 2021 (see the letter cited above) to seize Da Afghanistan Bank (DAB) reserves. So, according to The Guardian, a US marshal was sent to serve this order and it was obeyed.

What did did Biden's executive order have planned for the $7 billion? Well, half was to be apportioned to the plaintiffs of the Havlish case which ended in a default judgment in favor of the plaintiffs. The other half was to be reserved to address "the welfare of the people of Afghanistan" as stated in the executive order by President Biden.

The Other Half

I understand why the US thought they needed to seize the DAB reserves but why did we decide half belonged to us? For as much as we know those $7 billion belonged to the Afghan people. I get that the plaintiffs in the Havlish case suffered dearly but does that mean we have a right to lay claim to the savings of literally the poorest nation on earth?

Consider The Following

You might know where I'm going with this but before you jump to the and say "bullish on crypto" consider the following:

1. Was the US justified in apportioning $3.5 billion for the plaintiffs? This decision was reached in court through a default judgment with no representation on the part of the Afghan people. That $3.5 billion belongs to the Afghan people not to us.
2. Why didn't the US just pay the plaintiffs with their own money and put the entirety of the $7 billion into a trust? It seems unjustified that the richest nation on earth stole from the poorest nation on earth when we could just take care of our own (because we can afford it).
3. Imagine the situation was reversed and Afghanistan was the rich one and the US was the poor one that had assets stored in Afghanistan. How would you feel if Afghanistan decided to take half of your pension and award it to people in Afghanistan? You work your entire life only to have 50% stolen from you because of some global mess that you had no part in.

Now can you see how having a system of money that is not centrally controlled could benefit people in situations like this? Crypto was designed for exactly this but forget about crypto for a moment and see that there is a need to protect the savings and livelihoods of the general population, especially in poor nations, from the mess that nation states create including war and every economic impact it has on the economy. It's not a perfect solution but it's a crucial step in the right direction and it's why this whole industry exists to begin with.

Hopefully this gives you some perspective as to why this all exists.