Venezuela’s economic and political woes are widely reported. The inflation of the bolivar, the local currency, has now reached some 46,000% a year. The country’s money printers are fighting a losing battle, and the money supply has quickly become inadequate for even basic day-to-day transactions. The prices of everyday goods double every few weeks, and even a modest consumer item such as a television might cost in the billions of bolivars. As things stand the cash economy has almost entirely broken down, with debit cards and bank transfers the only way to transact for many citizens.
This is fertile territory for crypto, and residents have increasingly been engaging with digital currencies as a way to sidestep some of the worst hyperinflation the world has seen in recent years. One of the most widely adopted is DASH, favored for its speed, low transaction fees and free wallet provision. To date Dash’s highly active community in Venezuela have organized no less than five dedicated conferences to facilitate further development, promotion and partnership-building in the beleaguered country.
NANO is another notable player in Venezuela, with a grass-roots Reddit movement to fund charitable giving in the country. It began with a single post by a Venezuelan citizen on the Nano Reddit board, and ended with a series of high-profile articles in Yahoo Finance, Bitcoin Magazine and Nasdaq.com. It’s a humble beginning, but the Nano community have shown a real willingness to use the currency to step up and support those in need in other parts of the world.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has one of the most active grass-roots communities in crypto, and they have also been making moves in Venezuela with the EatBCH campaign. Over the last six months the campaign has raised some 21 BCH which has been distributed to ordinary families in the country. Not a multi-million dollar total, but without government officials, banks and other middlemen taking their cut, it’s money that can make a real difference on the ground.
It’s the early stages of a rise which feels inexorable. It’s unclear as yet which coin will become the currency of choice in Venezuela, but day by day more citizens adopt crypto and the movement gathers pace. For those in the crypto community, the country looks more and more like a test-ground for real-world applications which might find traction closer to home, and sooner than some might like to think.
