It is though. I think you missed the part where it says you can't buy cryptocurrency from within Lebanon except with hard cash and from one of the exchangers. These exchangers have to get the cryptocurrency from somewhere to begin with. They mention that they wire the money to Nigeria and let someone there buy it for them.
Not really, it's a piece for US readers about the US current views of who's "bad", they're not going to criticize their political and economic partners. There's nothing about Saudis either, see.
For me it's the fact they don't work everywhere. Electricity is not a given in all places, be it outdoor or in a country where the current isn't stable.
That question doesn't mean anything. It depends on where you live. The most common types of figs in France are not the same as the most common figs available in Turkey for example.
There are countless examples all around the world as we speak, but some people, mostly "occidentals", are stuck in bubbles full of assumptions and theories. Maybe it's denial, as mentioned.
For me, HN gives a sort of window into the American SF techno views and mindset about the world. It's quite interesting to read their ideas and opinions. It's a bubble like other places but it doesn't mean you won't learn something.
The Sehnaoui family is very powerful and well known in Lebanon. The guy works for the cousin of the owner of the bank. People aren't as gullible as we imagine them to be, but it's a good story for PR, resold over and over.
Much less impressive when you know the guy works for the cousin of the bank owner, which is part of a mafioso family. This was staged as a PR move for the security firm of the cousin of the bankowner.