This 22-year-old survives Lebanon with a bitcoin mining business that’s been earning $20,000 a month

This 22-year-old survives Lebanon with a bitcoin mining business that’s been earning $20,000 a month

It takes a lot to keep a grassroots cryptocurrency mining business up and running in Lebanon. Ahmad Abu Daher says he and his team of more than 40 Lebanese and Syrian employees are working around the clock to man thousands of machines across the country. "We can't sleep. We can't have any break," the 22-year-old Abu Daher told CNBC at 2:36 A.M. Lebanon time. "All of my team are still awake. They don't sleep. Our shift is working 16 hours per day, and sometimes, up to 18 or 19 hours." Abu Daher's voice competes with the sound of machines whirring in the background, each crunching thousands of complicated math equations to produce a mix of crypto tokens – now a vital source of income in a country where money has stopped making sense. Lebanon once boasted a thriving and resilient banking sector that attracted the world's elite. But after decades of war, bad spending decisions by the government, and financial policies has compared to a Ponzi scheme, . The local currency has lost more than 95% of its value since 2019, the minimum wage has plunged to $17 a month, pensions are virtually worthless, and bank account balances are just