Puntland: Crypto, Remittances, and Survival in Somalia's Northeast

When you think of Puntland, a semi-autonomous region in northeastern Somalia with its own government, security forces, and economic networks. Also known as Puntland State of Somalia, it's a place where formal banking is weak, cash is scarce, and digital money isn’t a luxury—it’s survival. Unlike Somaliland to the west, Puntland doesn’t seek full independence, but it does control its own borders, ports, and financial flows. And in a region where over 70% of households depend on money sent from abroad, crypto has quietly stepped in as the new wire transfer.

Here, remittances, the flow of money from diaspora workers back to their families. Also known as diaspora transfers, it’s the economic backbone of Puntland—over $1 billion a year, mostly from the U.S., Europe, and the Gulf. Traditional services like Western Union are slow, expensive, and sometimes blocked. So people use USDT on Telegram, peer-to-peer Bitcoin trades via local agents, and mobile wallets linked to Somali telecoms. This isn’t speculation—it’s how a mother pays for her child’s medicine or a farmer buys seed for the next season.

And it’s not just individuals. blockchain, a decentralized digital ledger that records transactions without banks. Also known as distributed ledger technology, it’s being used by small businesses in Bosaso and Garowe to track imports—from fuel to flour—across the Gulf. Local traders bypass currency controls by settling in crypto, then converting to cash through trusted middlemen. There’s no official crypto law in Puntland, but there’s a clear de facto system: trust, speed, and low fees win every time.

Compare this to Iran’s EXIR exchange or Afghanistan’s underground Bitcoin networks—Puntland’s crypto use is even more grassroots. No apps. No exchanges. Just people with phones, WhatsApp groups, and a shared understanding of risk. The government doesn’t endorse it, but it doesn’t stop it either. That’s the real story: when institutions fail, communities build their own.

You’ll find posts here that dig into how crypto moves through places like Puntland—not as a tech trend, but as a lifeline. You’ll see how people in remote towns use stablecoins to pay for school fees, how clan networks act as crypto custodians, and why a single phone number can be more valuable than a bank account. These aren’t theoretical experiments. These are real lives, real transactions, and real resilience.