And who of the participants in this topic can provide evidence / arguments that the use of bitcoin as a means of payment really helped the country's economy, and did not become, such a distraction, in a situation where there are no good solutions? Changing the type of means of payment cannot correct the fundamental problems of the country's financial system and its economy. And this type of problem is the key problem for Venezuela and Cuba.
As Venezuelan living in Venezuela. I believe Bitcoin and other crypto assets are not a panacea for our economy (perhaps it was never supposed to be one in the first place), however it does help us to manage our few savings not only against inflation but also against crooks and crooks in uniform thanks to self custody.
There have been many cases of people getting out the country though airports are getting their money and even gold stolen by officials claiming whatever BS they want in order to justify their theft. Bitcoin solves that.
The amount of corruption one can see here it is so big that people can sleep tighter holding Bitcoin than having their USD cash under the mattress (A friend of my family got their money robbed while doing that) or precious metals (I was personally extorted by military to hand over a silver coin).
So even though Bitcoin may not have a big macroeconomic impact in my country, I am happy enough with the fact it has a positive impact for ones who give it a chance here.
Thank you for your answer, it is very pleasant to communicate with a direct participant in this process!
The question is - why, for example, you are not satisfied with the US dollar or, for example, the EU euro? They are quite stable. They can act as a means of accumulation and storage. Yes, they do not give a x10 chance of growth, but there is also no x10 chance of a loss. The only caveat is that there may be difficulties with the enrollment and withdrawal of these funds. But the withdrawal of funds from the sale of bitcoin from script exchanges can also be blocked very quickly. As for me, there was just a change of some "pieces of paper" for "electronic pieces of paper", and the complexity and risks associated with their use have not yet been "appreciated"
Strong FIAT like Euro and USD have become common here for daily transactions, as I mentioned. I personally don't mind much, it has given us some stability after all at a big cost of course. I personally hold my few satoshis as a long time investment, since I have in a position I can have some bucks lying around doing nothing. When something serious happen and I need to sell, I am supposed to use and exchange, yes.
The situation with the USD in cash here is that we Venezuelans use social media to let know all your contacts we are selling USD cash. It is not strange here to see people announcing in Whatsapp, Facebook, ect "Selling 10$", "Selling 50$" or " Buying 40$". I don't know about you, but I personally prefer to deal with some exchange instead lettling know a bunch of people that I am dealing with cash and how much.
While I am here in this country, I everytime someone ask me about money I always tell them I am broke.
And about the risks, I believe one needs to stay correctly informed about how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency work and are supposed to move and be used. Gladly here in Venezuela one can find some businesses like restaurants, candy shops, ect that directly accept crypto with no FIAT bridge.