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Bitcoin trading in Venezuela is skyrocketing amid 14,000% inflation

38 points by chanfest22 8y ago

hartator 8y ago
Venezuela officials can now blame rampant capitalism as the source of the country misery.
RcouF1uZ4gsC 8y ago
People in Venezuela are also eating dogs, cats, and pigeons. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/05/18/venezuela-food-shortages-cause-some-hunt-dogs-cats-pigeons/84547888/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/05/18/venezue... Basically desperate people do desperate things to survive.
- iraklism 8y ago
  FYI, pigeon dishes feature in a number of Michelin star restaurant menus.
ancap 8y ago
It's a shame most media outlets don't use the word "socialism" when describing conditions in Venezuela.
- alphabettsy 8y ago
  If there’s a word that needs to be focused on its corruption.
  - yazaddaruvala 8y ago
    Corruption is a great descriptor of why this happened but at this point the word to best describe Venezuela is "insanity". Their leadership is literally turning down aid from foreign governments. They refuse to acknowledge that the country is in a state of emergency, and to top it all off their leadership has taken full control of the media and police. Using any other word other than "insanity" to associate with Venezuela's current situation would be disingenuous.
- rootusrootus 8y ago
  I can't really blame them, as that is a word which is deeply misunderstood by the vast majority of people who use it.
jeromegv 8y ago
The charts are using volume of transactions in Bolivar. The bolivar is being devaluated at a crazy rate, for sure the bitcoin transaction volume value IN BOLIVAR would be skyrocketing as well. This should look at the equivalent in USD or just pure number of transactions.
- anoncoward111 8y ago
  Here is the correct answer ^^^^^ If there are 100,000 transactions for 500,000,000 BOLIVAR ($1 USD on June 8th), and 100,000 transactions for 1,000,000,000 BOLIVAR ($1 USD on June 9th), then demand is unchanged, and the Bolivar is losing value. NOTE: I used a random number for Bolivar exchange rate. That's not the real exchange rate.
- taoistextremist 8y ago
  Yeah, this seems pretty dodgy when they're showing just pure bolivar expenditure. I think cryptocurrency could probably be a good deal for Venezuelans right now, too. It avoids being subject to poor economic decisions by their government while still also avoiding being at the mercy of an economic hegemon. The more likely case though is that they're probably primarily using USD, along with other regional currencies, far more than cryptocurrency. They're a lot easier to use, too, than cryptocurrency.
partycoder 8y ago
The Venezuelan regime is still in power thanks to the help of Cuban intelligence, and armed militias and paramilitary groups that are financed by the regime and do their dirty work, like using violence to intimidate opposition. Venezuela provided a economic lifeline for Cuba at some point, but now they can barely provide for themselves. I hope both regimes fall.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]
prolepunk 8y ago
There's also a good article in the Atlantic on the causes of this crisis and why Maduro clings to power and has no way of comfortable exit like tinpot dictators of 1980s had. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/05/maduro-venezuela/561443/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/05/ma...
rkeene2 8y ago
The digital currency project I'm involved in also has a strong user base in Venezuela. From what I understand, the biggest relative advancements can be made there if individuals or organizations are empowered to participate (e.g. in a decentralized system) rather than needing to satisfy requirements from large established organizations who don't see the value in participating in a small, unstable economy.

38 points by chanfest22 8y ago

Venezuela officials can now blame rampant capitalism as the source of the country misery.

People in Venezuela are also eating dogs, cats, and pigeons. https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/05/18/venezuela-food-shortages-cause-some-hunt-dogs-cats-pigeons/84547888/ https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2016/05/18/venezue... Basically desperate people do desperate things to survive.

iraklism 8y ago
FYI, pigeon dishes feature in a number of Michelin star restaurant menus.

ancap 8y ago

It's a shame most media outlets don't use the word "socialism" when describing conditions in Venezuela.

alphabettsy 8y ago
If there’s a word that needs to be focused on its corruption.
- yazaddaruvala 8y ago
  Corruption is a great descriptor of why this happened but at this point the word to best describe Venezuela is "insanity". Their leadership is literally turning down aid from foreign governments. They refuse to acknowledge that the country is in a state of emergency, and to top it all off their leadership has taken full control of the media and police. Using any other word other than "insanity" to associate with Venezuela's current situation would be disingenuous.
rootusrootus 8y ago
I can't really blame them, as that is a word which is deeply misunderstood by the vast majority of people who use it.

jeromegv 8y ago

The charts are using volume of transactions in Bolivar. The bolivar is being devaluated at a crazy rate, for sure the bitcoin transaction volume value IN BOLIVAR would be skyrocketing as well. This should look at the equivalent in USD or just pure number of transactions.

anoncoward111 8y ago
Here is the correct answer ^^^^^ If there are 100,000 transactions for 500,000,000 BOLIVAR ($1 USD on June 8th), and 100,000 transactions for 1,000,000,000 BOLIVAR ($1 USD on June 9th), then demand is unchanged, and the Bolivar is losing value. NOTE: I used a random number for Bolivar exchange rate. That's not the real exchange rate.
taoistextremist 8y ago
Yeah, this seems pretty dodgy when they're showing just pure bolivar expenditure. I think cryptocurrency could probably be a good deal for Venezuelans right now, too. It avoids being subject to poor economic decisions by their government while still also avoiding being at the mercy of an economic hegemon. The more likely case though is that they're probably primarily using USD, along with other regional currencies, far more than cryptocurrency. They're a lot easier to use, too, than cryptocurrency.

partycoder 8y ago

The Venezuelan regime is still in power thanks to the help of Cuban intelligence, and armed militias and paramilitary groups that are financed by the regime and do their dirty work, like using violence to intimidate opposition. Venezuela provided a economic lifeline for Cuba at some point, but now they can barely provide for themselves. I hope both regimes fall.

deleted 8y ago

[deleted]

prolepunk 8y ago

There's also a good article in the Atlantic on the causes of this crisis and why Maduro clings to power and has no way of comfortable exit like tinpot dictators of 1980s had. https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/05/maduro-venezuela/561443/ https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2018/05/ma...

rkeene2 8y ago

The digital currency project I'm involved in also has a strong user base in Venezuela. From what I understand, the biggest relative advancements can be made there if individuals or organizations are empowered to participate (e.g. in a decentralized system) rather than needing to satisfy requirements from large established organizations who don't see the value in participating in a small, unstable economy.