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The Americas
美洲版塊
Digital currencies
數(shù)字貨幣
Red, white and blue tape
紅白藍(lán)條旗（喻指古巴）
Cuba's communist regime is trying to control crypto
古巴的共產(chǎn)主義政權(quán)正試圖控制加密貨幣
SAILY DE AMARILLO is an entrepreneur in a system that discourages diversity.
企業(yè)家賽利·德·阿馬里洛所在的系統(tǒng)是一個缺乏多樣性的系統(tǒng)。
In Havana she runs a boutique hotel, a café and a co-working space.
在哈瓦那，她經(jīng)營著一家精品酒店、一家咖啡館和一個共享辦公空間。
She also teaches people about social media on Slyk, a website that has taken off in Cuba.
她還在Slyk上教授人們關(guān)于社交媒體的知識，Slyk是一個在古巴流行的網(wǎng)站。
Slyk gives her an online presence without having to build a website.
她不需要創(chuàng)建網(wǎng)站，可以在Slyk上進(jìn)行在線展示。
Even more important, she can be paid for her work in crypto currency.
更重要的是，她的工作報酬以加密貨幣支付。
Parts of Latin America and the Caribbean are experimenting with alternatives to cash.
拉丁美洲和加勒比海的部分地區(qū)正在試驗用其他貨幣代替現(xiàn)金。
In September Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, introduced a law which makes bitcoin, a cryptocurrency, legal tender.
9月，薩爾瓦多總統(tǒng)納伊布·布克萊推出了一項法律，使比特幣成為法定貨幣。
Mr Bukele, who is increasingly authoritarian, pushed through the law despite the fact few Salvadoreans actually want to use crypto.
盡管很少有薩爾瓦多人真正想要使用加密貨幣，越來越專治的布克萊還是推動了這項法律的通過。
Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela's autocrat, may have been hoping to catch some of the same headlines when he announced the country's new “digital bolivar” in August.
委內(nèi)瑞拉獨裁者尼古拉斯·馬杜羅希望在8月份宣布該國新的“數(shù)字委內(nèi)瑞拉銀幣”時能抓住一些同樣的頭條新聞。
Digital in name only, the new banknotes lop six zeros off a currency ravaged by years of hyperinflation.
這種新紙幣名義上是數(shù)字的，將多年來飽受惡性通貨膨脹蹂躪的貨幣去掉了6個零。
Locals, tired of carrying bundles of cash, use mobile payments and debit cards instead.
當(dāng)?shù)厝藚捑肓穗S身攜帶成捆的現(xiàn)金，轉(zhuǎn)而使用移動支付和借記卡。
Cuba is part of this trend—but, as ever with the communist island, with a twist of its own.
古巴是這一趨勢的一部分，但就像這個共產(chǎn)主義島嶼一樣，它也有自己的獨特之處。
Interest in crypto had been bubbling for a while, but took off properly late last year, when President Donald Trump imposed sanctions on organisations affiliated with the Cuban armed forces.
人們對加密貨幣的興趣已經(jīng)醞釀了一段時間，但在去年年底，當(dāng)唐納德·特朗普總統(tǒng)對與古巴武裝部隊有關(guān)聯(lián)的組織實施制裁后，人們對加密貨幣的興趣開始增加。
That included the banks which process much-needed remittances from family members abroad.
這其中包括審核海外家庭成員加急匯款的銀行。
Almost overnight, firms such as Western Union could no longer operate.
幾乎一夜之間，像西聯(lián)匯款這樣的公司就無法再運營了。
This cut off a lifeline in a country in which payment firms such as Visa, Mastercard, Paypal and Stripe were already off-limits.
Visa信用卡、萬事達(dá)信用卡、貝寶和stripe等支付公司已經(jīng)被禁止進(jìn)入，切斷了在該國的業(yè)務(wù)線。
Accustomed to finding creative workarounds in desperate situations, Cubans abroad began offering to sell cryptocurrency, such as bitcoin, to people on the island with mobile phones and the technological know-how.
古巴人習(xí)慣了在絕望的情況下尋找創(chuàng)造性的變通辦法，他們開始向島上擁有手機(jī)和技術(shù)訣竅的人出售加密貨幣，比如比特幣。
The buyers would then deliver the purchase price in pesos to the seller's family or friends.
然后，買家將以比索計算的買入價交給賣家的家人或朋友。
Initially many of these transactions happened informally over social-messaging apps.
最初，許多此類交易都是通過社交通訊應(yīng)用非正式進(jìn)行的。
As crypto became more common, people turned to specialist platforms, such as BitRemesas, founded in September 2020 by Erich García, a Cuban YouTube influencer who makes videos about the internet.
隨著加密貨幣變得越來越普遍，人們轉(zhuǎn)向了專業(yè)平臺，比如BitRemesas。BitRemesas是由埃里克García于2020年9月創(chuàng)立的，埃里克是一位古巴的YouTube網(wǎng)紅，制作視頻發(fā)布到互聯(lián)網(wǎng)上。
BitRemesas matches crypto sellers outside the country with buyers on the island through auctions.
BitRemesas通過拍賣為國外的加密貨幣賣家和島上的買家牽線搭橋。
Now the Cuban government wants to muscle in.
現(xiàn)在古巴政府想要強行介入。
At the end of August, the central bank announced that it would recognise and regulate the use of crypto.
8月底，央行宣布將承認(rèn)并規(guī)范加密貨幣的使用。
As is so often true in Cuba, details of the new rules remain cryptic.
就像古巴經(jīng)常發(fā)生的那樣，新規(guī)則的細(xì)節(jié)仍然模糊不清。
But the government's desire to clamp down on a new technology comes at a worrying time.
但是，政府想要取締一項新技術(shù)的想法似乎有些不合時宜。
In July countrywide protests were met with police repression and house arrests.
7月份，全國范圍內(nèi)的抗議活動遭到警察鎮(zhèn)壓和軟禁。
Activists had hoped to stage a peaceful march on November 15th, but the government has refused them permission to do so.
參與抗議活動的人曾希望在11月15日舉行和平游行，但被政府拒絕了。
Rather than deal with their discontent, it claims that they are agents for the United States.
政府并沒有處理他們的不滿，而是聲稱他們是美國的代理人。
Many of those who protested in July were calling for reforms to an unfair financial system that requires Cubans who are lucky enough to have dollars to exchange them at a lousy rate for other currencies, or for pre-paid cards to buy food and basic goods in state-run shops.
7月份抗議的許多人呼吁改革不公平的金融體系，要求擁有美元的古巴人以極低的匯率將美元兌換成其他貨幣，或者要求其使用預(yù)付卡在國營商店購買食品和基本商品。
Crypto might offer a lifeline to some.
加密貨幣可能會為一些人提供一條生命線。
But it will take more than the world's most decentralised currency to change one of the world's most centrally-planned economies.
但要改變世界上最具有中央計劃經(jīng)濟(jì)特色的經(jīng)濟(jì)體之一，需要的不僅僅是世界上最分散的貨幣。
