{"id":380573,"date":"2019-05-02T13:29:41","date_gmt":"2019-05-02T13:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wncen.com\/?p=380573"},"modified":"2024-06-11T07:40:03","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T07:40:03","slug":"bitcoin-socioeconomic-crisis-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wncen.com\/news\/bitcoin-socioeconomic-crisis-venezuela\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Bitcoin Cannot Fix the Socioeconomic Crisis in Venezuela [For Now]"},"content":{"rendered":"

Venezuela<\/a> has seen its national currency become practically worthless after undergoing one of the worst economic crisis in history. The inflation is all-time high – all the essential goods such as medicines and even toilet papers have soared in value. More citizens are leaving the country every day, while the ones who cannot afford to migrate are protesting on streets against the government.<\/p>\n

As a result, many Venezuelans are turning to cryptocurrencies like bitcoin as a haven against the super-weak Bolivar – at least those who have the technical knowledge to access an Internet-based economy. And given the price of bitcoin, which has dropped from $20,000 to $5,200 in over a year, it is the evidence of how despondent\u00a0Venezuelans have become.<\/p>\n

Venezuelans Can’t Access Bitcoin<\/h2>\n

The popularity of bitcoin in Venezuela is highly exaggerated, according to regional cryptocurrency reporters that has witnessed the “true” crypto adoption on the ground. Jos\u00e9 Rafael Pe\u00f1a Gholam of LongHash wrote<\/a> about how a large section of Venezuelans remain clueless about cryptocurrencies and how to access them. Most of them see bitcoin as a scam. Atop that, people’s potential to learn about the cryptocurrency becomes lesser due to lack of internet connectivity.<\/p>\n

“Venezuela\u2019s Internet continues to deteriorate, as the government manages most of the country\u2019s telecommunications concessions,” writes Gholam. “Once you get far from the big cities, it is even harder to get a good Internet connection. Smartphones, which tend to be priced in dollars, are even more expensive for Venezuelans now.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Bitcoin can't happen fast enough in Venezuela. Most important country for adoption for humanitarian reasons. https:\/\/t.co\/ASuOzHH5p0<\/a><\/p>\n

— Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) December 29, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n