A year ago, the most pro-crypto president in US history had just returned to power after pandering to clueless retail crypto investors and receiving massive financial backing from semi-corrupt crypto insiders.&nbsp;
Donald Trump’s second coming was supposed to be a new dawn for crypto, leading various self-dealing evangelists to predict that bitcoin would become ‘digital gold’, reaching at least $200,000 by the end of 2025.
As promised, Trump did gut most crypto regulations. He also signed the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for US Stable Coins (GENIUS) Act, pushed for the Digital Asset Market Clarity (CLARITY) Act, profited personally from shady domestic and foreign crypto deals, promoted his own useless meme coin, pardoned crypto crooks who had allegedly aided terrorist organisations, and hosted private dinners for crypto insiders at the White House.
Moreover, crypto was supposed to benefit from various macro and geopolitical risks, such as the ballooning of US and other advanced economies’ debt and deficits, the debasement of the dollar and other fiat currencies; new trade wars, and growing tensions between the US and Iran, China and many others. Indeed, the heightened risk environment helps to explain why gold rose by over 60% in 2025.
Read also: <a href="https://nepalitimes.com/here-now/time-for-nepal-to-enter-web3">Time for Nepal to enter Web3</a>, Vishad Raj Onta
But ‘digital gold’ fell by 6% in 2025. Bitcoin is down 35% from its October peak last month, and the $TRUMP and $MELANIA meme coins are down 95%.&nbsp;
Every time gold has spiked in response to trade or geopolitical ructions over the past year, bitcoin has fallen sharply. Far from being a hedge, it is a way to leverage risk, showing a strong correlation with other risky assets like speculative stocks.
Calling bitcoin or any other crypto vehicle a ‘currency’ has always been bogus. It is neither a unit of account, a scalable means of payment, nor a stable store of value. Even though El Salvador made bitcoin legal tender, it accounts for less than 5% of transactions for goods and services. Crypto is not even an asset, as it has no income stream, function, industrial or real-world use (unlike gold and silver).
Some 17 years after bitcoin’s launch, the one and only ‘killer app’ in crypto is the stablecoin: a digital version of old-fashioned fiat money, which the financial and banking industry already digitalised decades ago.&nbsp;
Yes, whether digital money and financial services should be on a blockchain or a traditional double-ledger platform remains a question. But 95% of blockchain monies and digital services are ‘blockchain’ in name only.&nbsp;
They are private rather than public, centralised rather than decentralised, permissioned rather than permissionless and validated by a small group of trusted authenticators (as in traditional digital finance and banking) rather than by decentralised agents in jurisdictions with no rule of law.
NO ANONYMITY
True decentralised finance will never reach scale. No serious government — not even the Trump administration — will ever allow full anonymity of monetary and financial transactions, because that would be a boon for criminals, terrorists, rogue states, non-state actors, human traffickers, assorted crooks and tax dodgers.
Moreover, because digital wallets and regulated exchanges must be subjected to standard anti-money laundering and know-your-customer (AML/KYC) rules, it is not even clear that transaction costs through permissioned and private ‘blockchains’ are any lower — especially now that traditional financial ledgers have improved with real-time settlement and faster clearing tools.&nbsp;
The future of money and payments will feature gradual evolution, not the revolution that crypto-grifters promised. Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies’ latest plunge further underscores the highly volatile nature of this pseudo-asset class.
As for the GENIUS Act, having set the stage for another destructive experiment in free banking, like the one that ended in tears during the 19th century, it may well be remembered as the Reckless Idiot Act.&nbsp;
Under the law, stablecoins are not regulated as narrow banks (meaning deposits and payments are separated from riskier lending and investing), nor do they have access to the lender-of-last-resort or deposit-insurance benefits provided by central banks.
Thus, all it would take to incite a panic and trigger a bank run is for a few bad apples in pseudo-libertarian US states to mis-invest their holdings or place their deposits in weak institutions like Silicon Valley Bank.&nbsp;
As in the 19th century, the current US approach — thanks to Trump’s venality, cluelessness and to the crypto industry’s corrupt influence peddling — is a recipe for financial and economic instability.
The recent fight between real banks and the crypto industry over the CLARITY Act is another example of Trump not understanding monetary and financial basics. The issue is not about banks wanting to keep their near-monopoly on monetary transactions. In a fractional reserve banking system, banks are involved in both payments and credit creation via the maturity transformation of short-term deposits into longer-term loans and credit. That means they provide a very valuable semipublic good.
Obviously, short-term deposits do not pay interest because they are nearly equivalent to currency. Yet the crypto industry is pushing to allow interest payments for stablecoins — directly or indirectly via exchanges — which would undermine the foundations of the banking system that we all take for granted.&nbsp;
We must either radically change our financial system to separate payments from credit creation (via narrow banks for payments and new loanable funds from financial institutions for credit) or prohibit stablecoins from paying interest and disintermediating banks.
This is a political and financial stability issue and few are as serious or as sensitive. Jamie Dimon, Chairman and CEO of JPMorgan Chase, is rightly raising the alarm about the changes the crypto industry wants, and Brian Armstrong of Coinbase could not be more wrong in nonchalantly dismissing such concerns.&nbsp;
If Trump has any advisers one hopes they can teach him how the banking system works before he allows his own personal interests to destroy its foundations. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent should be listening. &nbsp;© Project Syndicate
Nouriel Roubini is professor emeritus at the Stern School of Business, New York University. Also known as ‘Dr Doom’, he predicted the global financial crisis that began with the 2008 U.S. subprime mortgage meltdown&nbsp;

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The coming crypto apocalypse

Nepal got a radically new and young government this week, and among the many choices it has to make will be to decide on embracing bleeding edge technology like cryptocurrency and the blockchain. All crypto activities are currently banned by Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB), and violations can be punished by confiscation of bought goods, fines of three times more, and prison time.&nbsp; “This ban comes from ignorance, not strategy,” says blockchain expert Bijay Bogati, Head of Engineering at Mandarix IT services. “Nobody at the policy-making level in Nepal really understands the technology.” Bogati is also building the Himalayan Art Council’s art certification blockchain, which tracks and archives the transaction history of traditional Paubha paintings as non-fungible assets, ensuring the original artists are credited and paid if the artwork changes hands. &nbsp; This group of technology, often called Web3, is not a fringe movement anymore. Some governments recognise that digital assets have to be integrated into their economies, although there are also those who say it is a corrupt bubble.&nbsp; Donald Trump announced a strategic bitcoin reserve for the US government a year ago. El Salvador has adopted bitcoin as legal tender, and even has ATMs for conversion. France recognises it.&nbsp; Bhutan uses its surplus hydroelectricity to mine bitcoin at its Gedu data center and has used earnings to invest in its Gelephu Mindfulness City project, boost civilservant salaries, and curb the brain drain.&nbsp; In this month’s GenZ-inspired election, Nepal’s voters replaced the older generation of leaders with mostly millennials who are more fluent with new technologies.&nbsp; The tech sector has grown with the country exporting nearly $1 billion worth of software products last year. This is seen by some as the perfect timing to harness the technology in the national interest.&nbsp; NEPAL’S BAN Central banks and financial regulators are averse to switching to technology, and NRB fears crypto transactions could foster money laundering, terrorism financing, capital flight and tax evasion.&nbsp; Critics say this is hypocritical, like a pot calling the kettle black, because it ignores the fact that Nepal’s centralised financial regulator has itself not been able to control rampant corruption, money laundering and tax malpractice. The NRB justifies its ban by saying that people were getting scammed or were at risk of losing money when influenced to bet on digital assets. Others reject this reasoning, saying it dictates how people spend their money.&nbsp; A real concern for Nepal in recognising crypto would be in maintaining ties with bodies like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other international creditors, just as the backlash some countries have faced.&nbsp; In Nepal, it is the cybercrime department of the Central Investigation Bureau that invigilates, and it has made a handful of arrests since 2017.&nbsp; But ambiguous laws and a lack of knowhow about the technology means enforcement has not been easy. Says Bogati: “Crypto persists in Nepal. The ban just pushes activity underground.”&nbsp; BHUTAN’S PLAN Bhutan started mining Bitcoin in 2019, when the price for one BTC was $5,000 -- it is now over $70,000. The logic was simple: the country had excess hydroelectricity which was used to power supercomputers to mine bitcoin.&nbsp; The energy was renewable and fit in with Bhutan’s sustainability commitments. The country’s cold climate meant less heat was required to cool the machines.&nbsp; It was state-owned entities doing the mining. Crypto was not something the average Bhutani used every day, and the country has accumulated over 13,000 BTC valued at up to $1.4 billion — 40% of its GDP. It has sold some BTC and used it to raise civil servant salaries and try to reverse youth outmigration.&nbsp; Nepal also has surplus clean energy, especially in the monsoon, and also has natural cooling in the mountains. It also needs money. Every terawatt-hour (TWh) of electricity is worth roughly $84.8 million in gross mining revenue at current bitcoin prices. Nepal’s current surplus of about 3TWh would translate into $254 million a year. Selling the same amount of electricity to India earns Nepal only $56 million a year. In the near term Nepal’s surplus hydropower is expected to reach 14TWh, generating about $1.2 billion a year — almost 3% of its GDP.&nbsp; Currently, Nepal does not have surplus power in winter, the hardware costs to set up the mining operation would be huge, and the value of bitcoin is volatile.&nbsp; Bhutan also made over 100 cryptocurrencies usable for tourists for flights, hotels, and restaurants. After adopting bitcoin as legal tender, tourism to El Salvador surged 22%. Nepal is already a major tourism destination, and adding crypto infrastructure would attract global high-income remote workers who deal in crypto.&nbsp; Experts say there is always the risk of putting all the eggs in the bitcoin basket. It is a speculative asset, and could crash, governments may suddenly outlaw it citing its heavy energy use. Breakthroughs in quantum computing might break its cryptographic basis.&nbsp; But in the 15 plus years it has been active, bitcoin has survived crashes and regulatory and technological attacks.&nbsp; Perhaps as important as the money is the message that Nepal would send out about being open to innovation and investment, providing its engineers jobs within Nepal, and signaling its tech ambitions. For a country so dependent on remittance, using crypto would also save about 4% on transaction fees, as is happening in the Philippines now. The estimated 5 million Nepalis overseas send home $11 billion a year, although the unofficial amount is said to be much higher.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026032803030_ff2106a8941d17e05d4defef183e05a226f03fe67b4b51507d134ad42971534a.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026032803030_ff2106a8941d17e05d4defef183e05a226f03fe67b4b51507d134ad42971534a" data-rendition-name="original" width="1777" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="Web3 Nepal"> <figcaption>Photo: YALE UNIVERSITY</figcaption> </figure>  All this could be points to ponder for the youth-led RSP when it forms a government this week. It is especially relevant in addressing the party’s main mandate of reducing graft, and could be sold to international creditors like the World Bank and the IMF as a good investment when most capital expenditure projects in Nepal face delays and quality issues because of corruption. One way would be to create a blockchain system for government projects. Funds would be withheld until work is completed, reducing cheating and delays.&nbsp; Any Nepali could poke around to see which firm is granted which project at what cost, and how much progress has been made would improve government efficiency and help reduce fraud. “Lots of Nepalis are actively in Web3/Blockchain development despite the ban. The talent exists,” says Bijay Bogati. “But developers are scared. People with real skills do not want to take the risk.”&nbsp; Raunak Raj Rauniyar leads Superteam Nepal, a global talent network of creators and developers in Web3. He organises regular hackathons and bounty hunts where the best projects can win cash prizes.&nbsp; In a recent college tour across Nepal, it introduced and connected communities to blockchain developers.&nbsp; “We found that there is talent across Nepal. In fact participants outside the Valley were much more engaged and hungrier than those in it, perhaps because they have fewer tech events overall,” says Rauniyar.&nbsp; “More women are involved, the ratio is about 70-30, up from perhaps 90-10 a few years ago.” The Janamat app built on the blockchain is a recent Superteam product that lets any Nepali with a citizenship to anonymously share opinions and vote. This could let the government quickly understand public sentiment of Nepalis home or abroad instantly and on a wide range of topics.&nbsp; During the 5 March election, a Janamat poll for Jhapa-5 showed that 87% thought Balendra Shah would win, which accurately predicted the actual result. Users on the app are now discussing and voting on who should be in the RSP Cabinet (see page 1).&nbsp; WHAT NEXT Nepal continues to be wary and circumspect of these emerging technologies, responding with outright bans that it can hardly even enforce, and maintain an illusion of control.&nbsp; The alternative would be to identify talent which exists, and adopt these technologies, regulate it effectively and reap the benefit. It could make it easier for people to spend and invest their money in Nepal, create jobs, and even slow the brain drain.&nbsp; The timing seems to be just right, as a new forward-looking government of technocrats assumes control. Nepal is set to have a 35-year-old prime minister, and a supermajority government that will hopefully be stable for the next five years. &nbsp;

Vishad Raj Onta

Time for Nepal to enter Web3

<figure><img src="https://superdesk-pro-c.s3.amazonaws.com/sd-nepalitimes/20221114101124/637209f09c7e80680e0b5571jpeg.jpg" alt="" width="1920" height="1152"/><figcaption></figcaption></figure>The recent uproar over the use of cryptocurrencies in Nepal has given those of us interested in digital transformation and innovation much to chew on. A few weeks ago the Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/business/cryptocurrency-banned/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">issued a directive banning</a> all Nepali nationals from buying or investing in cryptocurrencies. This was not a surprise given previous NRB declarations.But the circular went a step further by also forbidding non-nationals living in Nepal from transacting in cryptocurrencies. This was followed by a series of news stories, quite obviously fed to the media by authorities, focusing on the use of crypto to defraud people looking to migrate for work as well for furthering capital flight.I suggest we step back from the noise surrounding the recent circular to explore how novel technologies interact with extant systems via three ideas - affordances, disruption and domestication. This zoomed out exploration provides us some ways of thinking about why the NRB might be so worried about cryptocurrencies and how we might think about digital currencies more generally.Let us start by accepting that <a href="http://archive.nepalitimes.com/news.php?id=6454" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">migrant labour fraud</a>, using hundi networks to underpay custom duty or even <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepals-richest-man-in-the-pandora-papers/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pandora/panama papers style capital flight</a> are not new for Nepal. They seem to occur with a sufficient degree of frequency within the existing financial regime. So we cannot argue that cryptocurrencies are responsible for causing such fraud and flight. But cryptocurrencies might facilitate increases in the volume and/or frequency of such illegal actions. Let’s suppose this to be true, what about cryptocurrency could be enabling this increase?AffordancesCryptocurrencies have been the <a href="https://www.coinfirm.com/blog/cryptocurrency-crime-darknet/">preferred medium of exchange</a>for the internet <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darknet_market">darknet</a> markets. They become the preferred means of digital extortion schemes such as <a href="https://www.npr.org/2021/06/10/1004874311/how-bitcoin-has-fueled-ransomware-attacks">ransomware attacks</a>, but more unexpectedly, they are also what off-line <a href="https://www.grammarly.com/blog/irl-meaning/#:~:text=Irl%20is%20an%20abbreviation%20for,social%20media%2C%20or%20on%20TV.">IRL</a>kidnappers across multiple <a href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/akdjyg/boom-in-cryptocurrency-marks-the-return-of-bitcoin-kidnappings-in-india">countries prefer</a>. There are, in fact, some things (affordances)that are inherent in the design of cryptocurrencies that make criminals choose them. For one, their pseudonymous nature offers a particular kind of anonymity as compared to traditional financial institutions.While traditional bank transactions are not visible to the public, the ownership of the account can be tracked fairly easily to a specific real world person. In the earlier, and still most popular, cryptocurrencies all transactions are visible in public. But it is difficult to know who actually owns the account. Even this relative lack of transactional privacy is being addressed by <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/layer2/privacyweek/2022/01/25/monero-the-privacy-coin-explained/">newer designs</a>.Those skirting the law also appreciate that law enforcement cannot easily freeze accounts because there is no central regulator or even physical asset. So, it is certainly possible that the Nepali officialdom is reacting to an increase in illegal activity facilitated by the affordances of cryptocurrencies. But there are other possibilities too.DisruptionBut the volume of <a href="https://archive.nepalitimes.com/article/Nepali-Times-Buzz/swipe-right-for-extortion-online-safety,4133" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">unlawful activities</a> in Nepal may not have increased because of cryptocurrencies. The NRB might instead be concerned that the power to conduct such activities has shifted from one set of actors to another. In other words, a new technology has caused a disruption. Why would such a shift worry the NRB so immensely? To answer that question, let us take a brief detour into the connotations of the word “setting” in Nepali.A setting is a network of relationships utilised to ensure that a specific action, almost always involving getting the State to do something, can be carried out. Settings often do involve the exchange of money, but not always. They can be about forging new relationships or doing mutual friends or in-group acquaintances favors. A setting can range from the mundane, ensuring that a land transaction is carried out with minimal hassle, to <a href="https://www.recordnepal.com/here-is-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-baskota-case">much more significant</a>.One imagines that the extant networks involved in black or gray currency transactions have carefully calibrated settings encompassing political protection, the trading houses that invariably need their services, and even regulators. The emergence of cryptocurrencies may have, in a very real sense, disrupted these arrangements.One plausible disruption is that financial regulators and political patrons have been cut out of the setting. <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/here-now/nepal-in-the-decade-of-ai/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nepal now has a generation of digital natives</a> with the skills to manipulate novel technologies. But that alone would not be enough to disrupt the setting without their access to the resources of the youth diaspora now working and earning in the West. Such a network is unlikely to have existing contacts with political forces nor with the officialdom, and thus unlikely to feel the need to involve them in any transaction.Another plausible disruption is that cryptocurrencies, with their enforcement challenges and lower cost of transaction, have democratised certain illegal actions. In other words, regulators could be worried because you no longer have to be a powerful player with large sums of money and know how to hire expensive lawyers in the British Virgin islands to engage in capital flight. Any moderately wealthy Nepali family that knows a few kids <a href="https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/bringing-silicon-valley-to-kathmandu-valley/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">who are good with tech</a> now has access to the same gray market financial services that only the very powerful previously had. Such a case would worry regulators because while only a few people are in the former category lots are in the latter.DomesticationWe should also be cautious not to read the above with unbridled cynicism. There are reasons for good faith regulators, cognizant of the realities of corruption and political-criminal nexus in their milieu, to worry about the disruption of familiar black and gray market “settings”. The familiarity of the “settings” allows regulations to monitor such transactions and the informal powers of approval allow them to exercise some control over them.If the disruptions brought on by cryptocurrencies allow for the setting to be dispensed with, the ability of regulators to influence these activities decreases. Assuming that black and gray market transactions cannot be fully prevented, there is a justifiable case to be made for trying to domesticate them by monitoring the key players, as well as influencing the volume and timing of these activities.Informal influence through collusion is, however, not the only tool regulators and law enforcement have to domesticate emergent digital technologies. The next part of this piece will take a brief tour through how governments and regulators around the world are attempting domestication. These explorations might also shed light on how Nepal might prepare for the transformative disruption that the arrival of digital currencies will herald.This is first in two part series on cryptocurrencies. The second part will be published in March. Sakar Pudasaini, Founder at Karkhana, explores innovation, technology, education, and their social consequences in Makeshift, a new monthly column in the Nepali Times.

Sakar Pudasaini

Decrypting Nepal’s ban on crypto

Know your Ministers

‘One early morning, we heard the ambassador’s wife cry out, “Ram, Ram, Ram!” A disaster has befallen Nepal!” She had heard on the radio that a fire had consumed Singha Durbar." This is not about the arson attack on 9 September 2025, but the one on 8 July, 1973. It started in the South Wing of the then single-largest building in all of Nepal. It took two days to bring the blaze under control, requiring the use of explosives to demolish one wing to protect the imposing western facade. As Bhekh Bahadur Thapa recalls in the English translation of his memoir A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy, he was then on leave from the Nepal government serving with the IDRC in Ottawa.&nbsp; He had already served as Nepal’s Finance Secretary at age 25, went on to be Finance Minister and Governor of Nepal Rastra Bank. He was already younger than some of the GenZ ministers in Nepal’s present RSP government. Thapa, now 89, was at the launch of the book in February which was attended by former diplomats and bureaucrats. After speeches by panelists, there was a question from the audience about how Thapa had managed to be the diplomat he was, managing Nepal’s international relations on the world stage.&nbsp; Writer and journalist Akhilesh Upadhyay, who was moderating the panel, responded by going into the section of the book where we see Thapa as an ambassador to the US, playing tennis with White House officials, cultivating a network of contacts to project the identity and welfare of Nepal, and making it possible for a state visit by King Birendra to Ronald Reagan’s America. The book is full of anecdotes that suggest Thapa was a clever and strategic diplomat, always calm and unruffled, easily making friends in high places with his maturity and engaging sense of humour. Thapa’s memoir is heavy on details about Nepal’s administrative history during the years he was active in public service, serving as minister and ambassador under three kings: Mahendra, Birendra and Gyanendra, and alongside five prime ministers.&nbsp; Aside from an insider look on how certain treaties, development deals and research projects in Nepal came into fruition, Thapa goes into great detail about his personal and professional relationships with the kings, ministers, ambassadors, foreign leaders and politicians.&nbsp; As a reader, one is struck by the level of detail around the events that unfolded in Nepal over the years during Thapa’s tenure. Was Thapa recording a journal over the years of the events and the conversations that transpired, or were they committed to his phenomenal memory? Either way, the reader gets a glimpse of Nepal’s recent history from the early days of the Panchayat, through the People’s Movement and the democracy period, the Maoist insurgency, Royal Palace massacre of 2001, and Gyanendra’s coup of 2005.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="2026041204048_125dc8ae300a1e33124f394abe724d42727f83e067b0201d2008b58d60c459a4" data-rendition-name="original" width="1584" height="1000" loading="lazy" alt="How to win friends and influence nations NT"> </figure>  Not enough is said about the political parties of the time whose presence led to the way Nepal’s multiparty democracy came to be shaped. The book keeps its focus on the administration and the key figures around it, mostly those in the Panchayat era. Towards the second half of the book, we do start to hear about political parties, but not in great depth. Another figure whose presence in the book is conspicuously less prominent is that of his wife, Rita Thapa — the person who seems to have rescued him every time financial quandary or family care became a challenge. Yet, we do not see her as a full person. Perhaps because of the personal tragedies in his life, the children are also barely mentioned.&nbsp; The book is therefore less personal and more technical. Throughout, we learn about Thapa’s thinking as he navigated the world of diplomacy to win him the trust of those who mattered. There are tips here for a new generation of Nepali officials and diplomats about how much commitment and focus is needed to be good at one’s job and serve the national interest. This book adds to tomes that have been written on Nepal’s fragile relationship with India. ‘India has always wished for Nepal to remain dependent on it,’ writes Thapa, who served as Nepal’s ambassador to India and later in the Eminent Persons Group &nbsp;on Indo-Nepal relations that has been allowed to languish. The book has several insights into the Indo-Nepal trysts with diplomacy and agency.&nbsp; China’s role is also recorded, viewed through conversations during a visit to Beijing, but all that was before Nepal’s neighbour to the north emerged as a world economic and military power. The book also has such sudden instances of quirkiness and humour. For instance, we see a young Thapa in America explaining to a government official why he would like to return to Nepal instead of settling down in the US. “Because, Nepal is beautiful,” he said. The text is immaculate and does not read much like a translation, credit for which clearly goes to the team that put the edition together: translator Prawin Adhikari, &nbsp;Anagha Neelakanthan and Bhekh Thapa’s daughter, Manjushree. As Nepal enters a new era of governance and diplomacy, A Life in Public Service: Nepal from Autocracy to Democracy should be essential reading for students of political science, economics and foreign affairs who can gain a fresh perspective on the country’s trajectory.&nbsp; There are dozens of forgotten state secrets recorded in the book, but the reader must also remember this is a story told from one person’s perspective and there may be others.&nbsp; So, what really made Thapa the diplomat he was? I met him in 2004 at the Kantipur TV studio when he was serving as king Gyanendra’s foreign minister. He was there for a studio interview, and I was just done with my English newscast.&nbsp; He surprised me at the door: “Pratibha! I’ve been reading your articles in The Kathmandu Post. You must keep writing.” I thanked him, glad to have been noticed for my work by a stranger. That was perhaps one of the things that set Thapa apart — he excelled at staying close to those in power, while also noticing those who were not.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260412040412_213e706136a038ec9f5e2b8c6d7f7c1e9ceed9479e22fe2884872ad7bd20955f" data-rendition-name="original" width="1136" height="702" loading="lazy" alt="Book details"> </figure>

How to win friends and influence nations

In a classic arc of political sociology, a revolutionary figure takes several decades to complete their cycle: mobilisation, institutionalisation, and finally governance. 
However, the timeline of this trajectory has been telescoped in the case of Home Minister Sudan Gurung, who in 2025 described himself as a social activist and volunteer, has gone from the barricades of the GenZ protests to the mahogany desk of the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Gurung is a personal pick of Prime Minister Balendra Shah, and played a pivotal role in getting him to join the RSP by mediating with Rabi Lamichhane. His journey serves as a real test bed for the ‘Outsider-to-Insider Transition’, raising a fundamental question about someone who now leads the very apparatus that he once fought against: the police, intelligence service, and the bureaucracy.
Social capital can indeed be built during a crisis exacerbated by state failure, and that is where we first see Sudan Gurung — expediting relief delayed by systemic corruption and red tape. Gurung’s delivery aid through a social-media-driven volunteer network bypassed the government. 
Whether or not he really rushed a dying child to hospital after the 2015 earthquake does not matter, it has become an urban legend. 
His work evolved into the non-profit Hami Nepal in 2020, serving as a ‘parallel state’ mechanism that would later become central to his public identity. Later, his group sprang into action during the Covid crisis, organising oxygen cylinders and beds . He was there after flood disasters in Manang and Sidhupalchok, and even organised Rs15m worth of aid to Turkey after the 2023 earthquake. 
Moral Legitimacy became his primary source of power, and he strategically positioned himself as an alternative emergency response system. But the real rupture happened on 8 September 2025 when years of frustration, corruption scandals, lack of transparency and state accountability culminated in a rally that the next day descended into anarchy. 
There was no single leader. The movement was fully decentralised, but as elsewhere such upheavals produces a recognisable face. Among them was Sudan Gurung. Who despite being a millennial himself, became the most visible interlocutor of the GenZ movement. 
He negotiated with the state’s key actors, including the president and the Chief of Army staff, during the period of uncertainty When the country was on the brink. This led to the dissolution of parliament and the formation of the interim government under Sushila Karki, paving the way for the election on 5 March.
Since then, Sudan Gurung’s role has become contradictory. Within days of touching Prime Minister Karki’s feet after her swearing in, he was at the gates of Baluwatar spearheading midnight demonstrations calling for her resignation. He accused her and Home Minister Om Prakash Aryal of not consulting the youth over Cabinet appointments and not arresting the previous government officials.
This oscillation became a hallmark of Gurung’s own version of the ‘Radical Flank Effect’ — erratic behaviour to force the establishment to make concessions. 
On 18 January Gurung formally joined the RSP, and started campaigning from his home constituency of Gorkha-1. He won decisively and was appointed home minister by Balendra Shah. The transition was complete. 
As minister his role spans core security areas: overseeing internal security through the Nepal Police, Armed Police Force and the intelligence bureau. The man who took part in anti-government rallies is now in charge of the riot police that aresupposed control anti-government protests.
His portfolio also handles state administration matters such as citizenship, immigration, and border security, coordinates with the judicial system on prisons, detention, and policies related to punishment and clemency. For example will be overseeing the fraud case against his own party’s chair, Lamichhane.
In his book Power in Movement, political scientist Sidney Tarrow observes that social movement leaders encounter ‘institutional capture’ upon entering government. In a sociological paradox, the man who previously denounced the police for killing youth protesters is now the person who issues directives to those same forces.
Preventive detention, surveillance, and the control of public festivals are the same instruments that the former old guard employed to stifle his movement. The activist who demanded transparency at the B P Koirala Institute now manages the state’s most secretive security apparatus.
In this arc, Gurung is not alone, there are parallels around the world for leaders emerging from the ashes of revolt. It is not so much a prediction, but for Gurung the challenge is even more acute because youth expectations are so high.
The bar for performance has been raised by citizens demanding change and quicker, more efficient service delivery. He is under constant public scrutiny, which is why he has to take YouTubers every time he goes on inspections of the airport, the BP Highway, police stations, picking trash on the sidewalks or meeting the Swiss ambassador to ask about repatriating the ill-gotten wealth of politicians.
Sudan Gurung is facing intense public glare. There have been calls to reveal the truth behind Hami Nepal’s finances, the alleged links to Free Tibet, and lately not paying five years of rent for an illegal lakefront property in Pokhara. 
As minister, he will find that moral legitimacy alone is no longer sufficient, it must be reinforced by transparent and consistent institutional accountability. Sudan Gurung’s ascent is evidence that the public mostly trusts ‘outsiders’ during times of crisis. However, history also cautions us that the state only permits ‘insiders’ to operate. 
Gurung will have to organise systemic reform to inject the transparency of his volunteer days to the Home Ministry’s traditionally secretive disbursements. If he fails, he runs the risk of validating Michels’ Iron Law of Oligarchy, which would serve as a warning about how revolutionary energy is dissipated by the very structures it was intended to overthrow.
Nepal is watching the man who said he once held a dying child in his arms after an earthquake. The volunteer has become the Warden.
Nischal Raj Gautam is a student of Media Studies and Mass Communication at St. Xavier's College, Maitighar. He is a member of the EU Delegation's Youth Sounding Board (YSB), and a journalist for TheirWorld's The Education Issue 2026.

He said no to politics. Now he runs it.

This is the 91st episode of Diaspora Diaries, a Nepali Times series in collaboration with Migration Lab providing a platform to share experiences of living, working and studying abroad. I have still not come to terms with the reality that my daughter Ruby Thakur is now the Deputy Speaker of Nepal’s Parliament. Sometimes, when I am walking, the thought hits me, and I cannot believe it.&nbsp; Things changed for my daughter in a very short time. I had dreamt that the best my daughter could achieve was a good engineering job. Fate had bigger plans for her. She is no longer just my daughter, she is the nation’s daughter. Nepal’s daughter.&nbsp; My children’s education was always my foremost priority. That is the main reason I went overseas for employment. I realised the value of education while working in Saudi Arabia. In my office, colleagues with good education earn $8,000 per month working on computers. Those with low education toil outdoors in the heat for much lower wages. A good education or skills can change everything. I am in Nepal on vacation and will soon return to my job. Ruby is all set now. But I still have to take care of my other children's education. As the eldest son, I myself never got a chance to prioritise my own education. I dropped out in Grade 7 because I had to take care of my ageing parents and younger siblings. I have done all kinds of jobs. I worked in a landlord’s field for a share of the harvest. Even now my wife and I farm for the land owner and have to give away half of what we grow.  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260413120444_051b61e01a5189af538aa1e011acd3e2b38d5f42825116b2afd325d93d0c519b.jpg" data-media-id="editor_0" data-image-id="20260413120444_051b61e01a5189af538aa1e011acd3e2b38d5f42825116b2afd325d93d0c519b" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="2268" loading="lazy" alt="DD"> <figcaption>Sogarath Thakur during a break in Nepal with wife tending to his farm.</figcaption> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260413120448_8a1c3ac3fd559026bc6f981cc8dc82cb8ad09a3a4f55fb9f6f7fd5f49c3d5571.jpg" data-media-id="editor_1" data-image-id="20260413120448_8a1c3ac3fd559026bc6f981cc8dc82cb8ad09a3a4f55fb9f6f7fd5f49c3d5571" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="2268" loading="lazy" alt="DD"> </figure>  Then I worked as a barber, my family’s line of occupation. I went door to door cutting people’s hair and later worked in a relative’s saloon. Hairstyles were simple back then, and I got to keep half the fee. I also worked in a brick factory where I was paid weekly. &nbsp; I married when I was 16, and my wife was a year younger. As my family and responsibilities grew, I had to migrate leaving behind my three children including Ruby who was just three months old.&nbsp; I went to Qatar where I continued working as a barber. It was a large saloon and the standards for cleanliness and professionalism were higher. I had to hand over 70% of my daily earnings to the employer. I had to rely on my colleague to translate what the customer wanted. But I slowly became fluent in Arabic. I used to jot down words in Nepali and Arabic and memorise them. In Qatar, customers even came at night for haircuts, and people stayed up late. I would work till 3AM.&nbsp; Communicating with my family was one-way. I would go to Bismillah and ask someone to type out questions to my family about their whereabouts, how the harvest was that season. I would offer very little information about my life in Qatar because it was not easy. What was the point of getting them all worried? What could they do? I never received a letter in return, so throughout my time in Qatar, I never knew how my family was faring. When I appeared in the village after five years without any advance notice, it was a bittersweet reunion, and I had no gifts. I still remember how unfamiliar my village felt when I came home after so many years. I had to ask for directions. When I came home, Ruby was already in school. I had left her in my wife’s arms five years prior. I missed her growing up, and did not even see her pictures. My wife had to introduce her to me as her father. But it took just 15 minutes for her to warm up to me.&nbsp; The Arabic skills I had picked up in Qatar came in handy when I remigrated two years later to Saudi Arabia. I worked as a labourer in the desert heat, but once my company found out I spoke Arabic, I was hired for an indoor job as an office boy. The struggle in Qatar had paid off. I worked in an air conditioned office serving tea or coffee, doing bank runs or getting documents signed and photocopied. I have worked in the same company for the past 20 years, sending money home.&nbsp;  <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260413120448_f083fa873a6d77b19c8b0bdde623415c643a151fb550c57ff4e52b3c2431355f.jpg" data-media-id="editor_2" data-image-id="20260413120448_f083fa873a6d77b19c8b0bdde623415c643a151fb550c57ff4e52b3c2431355f" data-rendition-name="original" width="5712" height="3213" loading="lazy" alt="DD"> </figure>   <figure> <img src="https://publisher-publish.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com/pb-nepalitimes/swp/asv65r/media/20260413120452_5ccd9a01ee05ce26b71381725108215d0f0d3806508b0cb482aabcfea09bbaef.jpg" data-media-id="editor_3" data-image-id="20260413120452_5ccd9a01ee05ce26b71381725108215d0f0d3806508b0cb482aabcfea09bbaef" data-rendition-name="original" width="4032" height="3024" loading="lazy" alt="DD"> </figure>  My wife is not just my children’s guardian, but also mine throughout the two decades I was away. I trust her with all my earnings, and she manages our household finances well. She makes sure that the children’s school fees and other expenses are paid on time. These days, with video calls, things have become much easier for me to stay in touch with home.&nbsp; When Ruby told me she wanted to do an engineering diploma, I was happy. Later, her friends inspired her to join politics so she started getting involved with Shram Sanskriti Party. I first found out she got the proportional representation nomination through social media while on my work duty in Saudi Arabia. I was so excited, but even more so when she was elected Deputy Speaker. I was back home in Dhanusha on my vacation at the time.&nbsp; We are overjoyed and waiting for her to come back to the village for a visit when she gets a chance so we can celebrate properly with everyone. I plan to go back to Saudi Arabia as originally planned, I have a good job and will work for maybe five more years. Ruby has taken 75% of the load off my back. She can help take care of her siblings.&nbsp; I sleep at 8PM every day and wake up at 5AM to exercise before my day in Saudi Arabia begins – I have stuck to the same routine for the last two decades and it has worked well for me and my health. I have a good rapport with my boss who is an Egyptian. My requests to resign have often been met with counter-offers to stay on. My honesty and hard work have won me the company's trust. I will go back and resume working as I have, despite my daughter’s huge achievements. I am still a farmer’s son, a simple man who has to fulfil his family responsibilities. My colleagues in Saudi Arabia are aware that Ruby is Deputy Speaker in Nepal’s Parliament, they are all happy for me and have congratulated me. This time, when I go back, I have promised them that I will throw a bakhri party to celebrate my daughter’s achievement.