Topic: BTC is helping out Cubans and Venezuelans - page 5. (Read 1025 times)

It seems logical that Bitcoin is the perfect solution for people in authoritarian regimes to store money outside the reaches of their government. It is still reasonably anonymous and if people are able to get hold of it without alerting their government, then it gives them more room to think independently without financial pressure. It also allows their family members to send money back to the country without paying excessive amounts to local banks in the form of commission. There are all sorts of benefits really and this should be one of the big messages that pushes Bitcoin forward - it offers freedom to oppressed people and allows them more abilities to stand up against their tyrannical overseers.

Well there in that statement I support you, the only thing is that those who can gradually accumulate some BTC even if it is very little will do it, if those people have more than 60 years without money, I think that 3 years or 4 years saving from very little I'm sure they will.

Regarding the opportunities they have to obtain BTC, I think they will be the same as everyone has, the only thing is that in Cuba everything can be controlled even by the internet, and those who do not adapt to the conditions offered by the government I think they will be of Similarly punished, I think that in Cuba the use of VPN will grow a lot so that they can carry out BTC transactions and thus can overcome the prohibitions that the government has on them.

If the government can manage state revenues well, then I think the use of bitcoin can prosper people's lives, but if not, of course, this will lead to corruption and a gap between officials and the people. and if that happens then the economic crisis is unavoidable. and the exodus that has occurred will be even greater. on the other hand, people can achieve prosperity by having knowledge of cryptocurrencies at the beginning

To be fair, most of the people here who work for the government or have an administrative position have very bad wages and I have no doubt many of them have turned corrupt because of that. Besides, the taxes here are quite lax when comes to the people most of the tax money comes from the companies and business (in local currency) which does not help much implying the government actually wanted to raise their workers' wage.

Either way, you are right, this situation was never supposed to happen, but it has happened.
We holding on for now, as the inflation deaccelerates.

I really hope that, wherever you live, this nevers happens to your country, it hurts to lose family just because some people you never met decided to be bad leaders.


Yes, several companies and locals accept crypto here in the conuntry, specially near the capital. It is specially convenient to pay for takeout food I have read.

Dash is specially popular there in Caracas. A Chain of Fried Chicken Restaurants even offers their employees to receive some bonuses in crypto:

https://dashnews.org/churchs-chicken-venezuela-offers-special-promotion-for-paying-with-dash/

If to talk about Venezuela, active using of BTC together with national currency can help some people to live well in this country, but the whole mass will see no changes as most of them have no possessions in BTC. Sure if their government (like in El Salvador) will adopt BTC as legal form of currency, will popularize it, explain everyone how to use BTC and even give everyone some amount of BTC, then it really can help to stop inflation. But despite of adopting BTC as money government also need to make a lot of changes in their laws and in system of economic management in the other case it’s not going to work.

That certainly lies with them. if they will trust Bitcoin that could help them in the future that somewhat be possible but if they remain innocent and doubtful with this, I don't think this gives some room to Cuba or Venezuela. The corrupt government that they have might give them in trouble as I know they will take action for everyone who holds and use Bitcoin. Taxes might not be fair enough and probably this will happen.

I think just the opposite, their money is worthless so they should be taking bitcoin as legal tender. That way instead of having a fiat that is losing value constantly, they will replace it with bitcoin that gains value over time, and they would get richer instead of poorer. This will also allow more and more bitcoin in the nation, both in the pockets of the regular people but also it will allow government to gather more and more, even if it is just for tax payers that pay in bitcoin, they will have a stronger treasury as well. This is why when you are doing as bad as Cuba financially, it just makes sense to move to bitcoin legal tender, that way your nation will become richer and richer over course of years.

Well... I am surprised.. I have heard that millions of Venezuelans use Bitcoin, because it offers double protection from confiscation by the authorities, as well as protection from hyperinflation. And so far the regime has tolerated Bitcoin usage to some degree (also, there have been unconfirmed reports that the regime itself is using Bitcoin as a tool to circumvent the sanctions. I don't know much about the case in Cuba. But in recent times, I have hard about increasing usage of Bitcoin from that country as well.

Always good to hear actual, first hand accounts of bitcoin being useful in the grander scheme of things.

I think that the speculative aspects of bitcoin has really taken away from the underlying reason that bitcoin exists in the first place, which is to bank the unbanked.

Sometimes it's good to refocus and look at the tangible results that we have achieved. And this is certainly one of them.

The case of Venezuela is very different because most Venezuelans do not know much about BTC, it is only a part of the population and it is not representative, however, if it has helped a lot to those who know, the case of Cuba is similar, but it should be noted that the country has many restrictions on both the internet and equipment, as well as IP restrictions. If we take into account that the country now has internet, the use of the VPN is the day-to-day of Cubans, it is the only way to be able to bypass the restrictions and be careful that they cannot be tracked.

Good that you have how to prevent yourself from being blackmailed by corrupt government's agents, but I mean it's a shame citizens have to worry about being threatened and stolen by the people who they actually pay the wages and maintain in the public administration to work for the country. In my country things don't reach to this point, but in some aspects it's similar and I'm really nauseated for this reason. The corrupts always win in the end and since this reality won't change, I want to get out from this reality soon as possible...

About the impact of bitcoin in our daily life I totally agree with you, but I think it is just a palleative because to live in a society where you can trust people and enjoy social relationships without worrying about being cheated or scammed is also very important.

Some time ago I saw a thread here showing Burguer King is accepting bitcoin as payment method in Venezuela. They must have some agreement with the government to deal with crypto currency without any legal problems, indeed. For the government it's interesting, because businesses are profiting and consequently paying their taxes.

I never expected Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies to be a panacea for our situation. However, since I discovered Bitcoin last year my finances and life are easier.
The government taking advantage of the situation was very predictable, in my opinion. Fortunately, people here who are within the crypto world not only have the mining as profit activity, people here also trade, stake and lately the blockchain games have become a fenomenom (it may not last forever).
On the bright side, there are plenty ways for us to protect our few savings for corrupts, thieves and bad people while being the only ones in control of our money.  All this while adoption keep increasing, slowly but steadily.


To be fair, the administration has been more friendly with companies and people with much money here.
Since a couple of years ago, there has been an explosion of stores we call "bodegones". Those are grocery stores that tag are their goods in USD and offer imported products to their costumers, stuff that was difficult to find here some years ago: Peanut butter, Imported Cereal, Hot Pockets, Imported candy. Several of them look more like a US grocery stores than a traditional venezuelan shop.

Of course, for some reason the government do not touch these businesses. Some speculate these are used for money laundering or that all the owners have ties with the administration. Just speculation.
They also leave alone the malls, the Macdonals, Timberland, Adidas, Sansumg stores, Diesel, ect..

No one actually claimed that Bitcoin is the ultimate solution for all the issues in Cuba and Venezuela. The point is that Bitcoin is helping in some way, for the people in these countries to survive. The regime is trying to confiscate assets from wealthy people, and Bitcoin represents one of the few available means to prevent that (or at least reduce the possibility). On top of that, Bitcoin (despite it's volatility) is useful as a store of value. Since the national currencies in these countries are heavily manipulated, Bitcoin is useful for that purpose.

By reading the experience you have in your country it makes me believe bitcoin alone isn't the solution for anything. In some cases crypto currencies can be even positive for the corrupt opressive government, as you mentioned state's agents ask for a piece of cake from crypto miners or steal the mining equipments from non registered miners. Furthermore, crypto helps the economy to not entirely collapse, what consequently calm down citizens and makes the regime lasts longer.

If corruption isn't fought in all its spheres in a society, with or without bitcoin, people will remain slaves of tyrants who take advantage of "the law of the strongest", or in this case "the law of the most corrupt" seems to fits better.

That's good to hear that cryptocurrency has affected your life in a positive way for 3 years now. I'm happy that you can get by, earn, and save with the help of crypto. Crypto offers a vast horizon of possibilities and you just have to utilize it as well as the resources you have. Researching before entering crypto is a very essential step to be able to succeed and achieve your goal the moment you decided to take a risk. I commend you for taking little steps to achieve your aspiration which is to get out of poverty. I just really do hope that you'll grow in numbers so that altogether you can boost your economy.

You can educate first the people around you to get to know bitcoin and how it works. From there, you can expand your network and reach whereas you can acknowledge more people to invest and use btc. But of course, let them know all the angles most especially the risk that comes with investing. Let them know that crypto isn't a get-rich-quick scheme. The progress doesn't happen overnight and it takes patience and effort to make a profit. Looking forward to hearing your story next time in the future when Venezuelan citizens are making the most of btc.

i believe that same thing were already happening to other countries but they dont only make it to public because maybe their situation is not that worse that these two countries . there are people that can make use of their btc pretty well and not only for the purpose of investing on it in the hopes of making easy money .
etf approvals , tesla and other big events can also make btc more stronger so i see no problem with them if they get involved .

I am not that sure about Cuba. Their national currency is not very strong, and it may create issues for the government if Bitcoin is made a legal tender. That said, ordinary Cubans may find it easier to receive remittance payments, as sending them to Cuba in the form of fiat is not very easy (thanks to sanctions and embargoes). The same is the case with Iran as well. Initially the regime there supported Bitcoin mining, because they thought it will help them in circumventing the sanctions imposed by the United States administration. 

This is excellent to hear.

It's precisely what we actually want to happen with cryptocurrencies. Not ETF approvals, not Tesla buying in.

But actual people who are finding bitcoin/cryptos useful for their day to day transactions and as a store of value. That is the end goal of bitcoin and what's actually important.

Hopefully El Salvador's move can inspire others around the world too.

Food here is not a problem anymore, we have full shelves now. The problem now is the price of such goods which has become difficult to adquire for people who continue getting paid in local currency, since now everything is tagged in USD, regardless the shop accepting crypto or not.

On the other hand, I would personally say that besides the prices, crime and the lack of medical attention are also big problems. Unlike the United States, for example. Hospitals here won't attend us unless we have the cash ready to pay in advance for their services.
If one arrives to an hospital in a critical state, shot, beaten or agonizing the first thing they will do is to say the prices for the necessary attention. If there is no money, they will offer us a sit so one can die comfortably.

I am not saying this because I heard about it, I lost an aunt last year because of the medical situation here.
Perfectly treatable conditions elsewhere have become major problems here.

It makes sense that people in Venezuela moved to make money from crypto, the minimum salary there is close to $3 or so, which means if they could simply just work in axie infinity for example they could become wealthy let alone just rich. That's just one example, making few bucks per day on crypto is simple, trading could give you that much but has risks yet it could yield you with more, applying on IDO's or bounties or signature campaigns and many more things could be done.

Basically when your nation is poor enough, crypto suddenly becomes the key to leave that poverty behind and live a good life. Of course when nation as a whole is poor, even if you are rich, you will not be living the rich person's life in other nations because even if you have the money for it, sometimes you can't just find food. So, it is not 100% sure fire way to get out of poverty exactly but certainly a much easier path.