The complex economic situation that Venezuela is going through and how it fits into bitcoin (BTC) was the subject of debate during the eighth edition of LaBitConf. Four Venezuelan bitcoiners shared their views and experiences on cryptocurrency use cases in the country.
Javier Bastardo, from Satoshi in Venezuela; Alessandro Cessere, founder of Coinspree; José Rafael Peña, bitcoin ecosystem researcher, and anonymous tweeter “P_Hold”, analyzed the different roles that Bitcoin plays in an economy marked by hyperinflation, exchange controls, depreciation and banking restrictions.
According to Peña, the usefulness of bitcoin in Venezuela is very different from that of the rest of the world due to the circumstances of a system that would collapse. For the analyst, the increased use of bitcoin abroad is speculative. However, this role does not apply at all in the oil country.
«Bitcoin serves in Venezuela as a financial bridge to change bolivars to Colombian pesos or other national currency. It’s one of the use cases, but it’s also used as a value protection for people who have a certain confidence in it and aren’t afraid of volatility, ”Peña said.
One of the reasons Venezuelans would be approaching bitcoin is that the depreciation of the bolivar is happening faster than the falls the BTC price might experience in the market. According to Peña, the economic situation has deteriorated so much that it is better for people to choose BTC volatility than keeping the bolivars in a bank.
Although the forecasts might favor faster adoption of BTC, the researcher recalled that an individual living with a monthly minimum wage (about 2 dollars) could not learn “overnight to use bitcoin while having to feed his children”.
The main challenge that cryptocurrency has in the country is education, according to the speaker. Peña thought it was a risk that a person was interested, but that he has not the slightest idea of how to protect his crypto asset. In addition, it would also be necessary for the economy to stabilize as the majority of the population is in poverty.
On the conditions in which the country finds itself, Javier Bastardo was outspoken when he said that Venezuela is not a normal country and that the economic reality is a reflection of that situation. The decline in quality of life and economic distortions would produce a society dedicated to solving day-to-day problems, according to Satoshi’s host in Venezuela.
«The same need has led us to bitcoin. There are those who use it as part of their entrepreneurship, and others to save. I don’t think bitcoin is for people of a certain kind of intelligence, I think it’s not unique to some kind of Venezuelan, ”Bastardo said during the panel’s moderation.
The moderator highlighted that while more education about Bitcoin is lacking, do not create false expectations in people. As elements that would favor a possible expansion of the cryptocurrency in the country, Bastardo said there was a good amount of commercialization and interest in knowing more about the operation of the cryptoactive.
Javier Bastardo (Left) of Satoshi in Venezuela along with José Rafael Peña, a Venezuelan bitcoin researcher. Source: LaBitConf capture.
Bitcoin in Venezuela: pending tasks
During his speech, Alessandro Cessere mentioned three aspects that could weigh up bitcoin adoption in the country. The first is the poverty level that’s in the population and it would be 94%, which according to the panelist, would leave no room for savings.
The second element that plays against is poor infrastructure Venezuelan Technology. Failures in Internet connectivity, access to computers or mobile devices, would make it difficult for people to create an account on platforms such as LocalBitcoins, for example.
The third obstacle would be on the companies side. For companies, it’s difficult to add to their corporate balance sheets the positions they may have in bitcoins or other cryptocurrencies.
“It is difficult for a company to comply with all the regulations that require the purchase of bitcoins to be recorded on its balance sheets. Trying to regulate the small ecosystem that exists today in Venezuela could lead to the stagnation of the sector or slow down the adoption that is being created, ”Cessere emphasized.
Meanwhile, the reading offered by the bitcoiner “P_Hold” had two fronts: the financial system and bitcoin as “the last resort” currency. The entrepreneur also noted that in It is difficult to access Venezuela into the financial system, This is not to mention the impossibility of having an international account in dollars or obtaining bank finance. For him there is no “access to the outside world.”
“P_Hold” considered the difficulties and concluded that bitcoin was a “last resort” currency. The delicate conditions prevailing in Venezuela have created unmet needs, which have fueled the further adoption of bitcoin.
“When you have no other way to move money, bitcoin is there and it opens the doors for you. The same need makes people move. At first it was also much more difficult to acquire information in Spanish, but that is changing ”, he noted.
The use of bitcoin in Venezuela could increase if the access to cryptocurrency is easier and simplerreflect the panelist, who preferred to defend his true identity and not show himself on video. “Bitcoin’s cyclical economy has not matured yet so knowledge needs to increase,” he argued at the end.