Bitcoin Forum

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For OPSEC reasons I don't (personally) want to go in to this topic too heavily myself, but this is already happening.

I have known about Venezuelans for years using BTC (and Dash) as a partial substitute for their worthless currency and hard-to-get US dollar fiat.  Apparently these efforts have been quite helpful to those in Venezuela in a position to use cryptos to make their lives better.

Now Cuban-Americans are sending BTC to embattled Cuba.  I do not know the amounts though.

These really ARE excellent use-cases in which BTC is helping to add value to the lives of those under oppression.  This is clearly a good thing.

Of course, it is really helping to the people who are living in a country with currencies that are not even to be considered as toilet papers and also add more value to the bitcoin itself because people are actually trying to use it as a medium of exchange which is what satoshi vision is all about when he launched bitcoin.

it's all because Bitcoin has value, otherwise it doesn't help at all. and the fact that everyone needs to realize that regardless of what has been felt in Venezuela or in Cuba at this time, we hope that the problem is only one, all need to recognize Bitcoin is not only for big holders, but Bitcoin needs to be recognized by the world with evidence that has been seen before eyes, Venezuela itself as a country we all don't need to say that. What is certain is that the existence of Bitcoin we need to protect in order to maintain all the services that Satoshi has bestowed on us all.

I am Venezuelan, my life changed since I used cryptocurrencies for almost three years. But we are not the majority, we are still few. I think that if we increased we could get a little out of poverty. We need the interest in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies from the main engines of our economy to be able to boost all economic sectors. There has been interest in private companies but progress has been little. Perhaps due to the pandemic but I have not yet seen a noticeable progress that is sustainable.
When the economic indicators show growth thanks to these investments, we can affirm that Venezuela also achieved it. That is why I can tell you that we are still a minority in Venezuela who see their future with bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

We have quite a few users from Venezuela, however I haven't seen anyone from Cuba. You can check the posts from user Hispo, and he has detailed the cryptocurrency situation in Venezuela in great detail (most of his posts are in Spanish, but you can check the ones made outside the local sub-forums):

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=2850161

I don't know much about cryptocurrency users in Cuba. In fact, this is the first time that I hear they have a large community of cryptocurrency users there. One thing is sure. Growing acceptance of cryptocurrency bodes well for the ordinary citizens of Venezuela and Cuba.

Quite true, however one of the main reasons of the adoption here in Venezuela besides of the inflation (I personally have a cabinet full of worthless notes I use to repair old books) it is because the government have no control over the wallets and have no capacity to know whether uses Bitcoin/altcoins.

Because of the infamy of our government abroad, the exchanges here have an antagonistic relationship with them, so I am very sure exchanges do not provide much information (if any) of the users to the local government even if they ask for it.

Because the electricity here is basically free, it is common for people to try to mine, but (of course) the government wants their part, so one needs to "register" and get a permission to mine any coin.
If you try to mine without one, and get caught, you get your equipment seized (and probably used by corrupt military to mine) and thrown into a cell where you will stay until they want.

If you  get registered, you may get threats anyways by more corrupt agents claiming their piece of the cake. So being a miner here is not a good idea.

The lastest example:

https://www.cvbj.biz/2021/07/15/another-6-bitcoin-miners-were-arrested-in-venezuela/

Crypto is volume here is the biggest in Latinamerica, if I remember right.
For now, most of people prefer to hold USD, EUROS or gold. The high-volume may be due to remittances (a way to avoid government to take a percentage) or speculation to beat the bad salaries here.

There are also rumors about removing 6 zeroes this year off our currency.

From what I can see, fellow forum members living in Venezuela are not as optimistic as the OP. Maybe it is a matter of time. Having the example of El Salvador so close let's hope that the use of Bitcoin in those countries becomes generalized even if it is not backed by the government.

I think the use case is pretty cool, now we can add to the list that bitcoin also helped people achieve freedom from their oppressors. What's OPSEC by the way? I assume the OP part is operational or operation. Also, wouldn't it be alright to spill it here since you are likely anonymous?

Well am glad to hear this, reason why btc is a good substitute for fiat, in the case where fiat fail to meet all requirements of it's citizens btc will be a fine substitute to such country from their dying currency,  this must mean the Cubans must need a huge amount of their dying currency to buy btc otherwise how else will they be able to get hold of btc, Am just wondering  :-[

Good thing is that BTC is actually having a good use-case in Cuba and Venezuela instead of just being viewed as a money-making cryptocurrency and nothing more. I would love to see the usage statistics in Cuba since this is the first time that I read something about the country making use of bitcoin. This is good for adoption, although I'm still hoping that Cubans and Venezuelans have their economies fixed for them to not go through all the hoops just to get some value off of their money.

I don't think that it's only Cubans and Venezuelans Butcoin is really helping. There are more good to countries using Butcoin as means of transactions than bad, even coupled with the volatility that is attached to it that makes it look like it wouldn't be fine using it in place of Fiat. Bitcoin uses is more better to transact than some countries currency which is poor in value when compared to USD. More countries are yet to embrace the use of Bitcoin as a system for goods and services payment system.

I am glad that bitcoin became more than just a substitute to fiat because it's not just substitute for this people, it's a ladder for them to survive and prosper despite the inability of their government and fiat to help them survive.

it's amazing that a country can still work things out despite the disorder that's happening. i can't believe the mayor of Miami considers an airstrike on Cuba.
the rallies there are caused by Covid19 still which the government can't really do much but to tell the people to stay home.

this country is actually abundant, the people don't go hungry until covid came. i hope BTC can work out on them.

That's on part that people are crafty no matter how incompetent their government is. Also, is that airstrike request for real though? That's the most aggressive USA had been in Cuba since the Cold War and the Missile Crisis. This is what happens when your communist ideology happens, only the select few gets the taste of good life.

It's not like they are trying to say that Cuba and Venezuela are the only one that gets benefits out of crypto, it's just that they are in a more distraught situation than any of us so they are basically needing more help more than anyone else.

the saddest part of this situation is to see that there are hundreds of people suffering and they are unable to remove from power a small group of people who are responsible for the suffering of most of the population in these countries, and it is commendable that bitcoin is being very useful in these countries. .but this is a temporary solution, people in these countries should know that if they don't fight to change these regimes, nothing in their lives will change in the long run. people need to come together and remove these corrupt presidents and political parties and dictators and demand democratic elections and that countries like the US start to lift sanctions and recognize the legitimate democratically elected president

And yet china sees crypto as a threat, I guess the president of China hates people been successfully on their own without working for the government, this is so painful as so many people in China relies on crypto investment and mining

The list is growing all the time and I’m loving it. Every other day there is some news about some countries who is either accepting the crypto currency and more specifically bitcoin itself. The adoption could be because of their bad currency situation or unprompted values for the local currencies. For example, if Africans do business with crypto currency’s and earn in crypto for the assets they import or export then surely they will benefit. If they do business in the let’s Niara of Nigeria then it’s gonna be horrible all the time.

Though this mode will have to be perfectly upgraded but will surely work.

Now hearing about Cubans and Venezuelans makes me think about these things are possible. .

It's not just Cuba and Venezuela. Paraguay is about to introduce a new bill on cryptocurrency regulation and there have been a lot of hype regarding it in the market. I don't expect anything revolutionary coming out of it (similar to what happened in El Salvador). But it is gladdening that most of the world seems to be moving in the right direction with respect to cryptocurrency (obviously there are a few exceptions, such as China and Vietnam). Those countries which take a more conciliatory approach towards cryptocurrency will benefit in the future, because it represents the next big thing in technology. China is going to regret, because CBDC can never replace cryptocurrency.

it is not just countries with declining currencies. it is a lot of countries that are usually underdeveloped. i think it has to do with the freedom that people have in most of those countries. for example you will face a lot more obstacles when you want to buy bitcoin in America than you wold face in most of these countries and your bank account is not going to get closed just because you dumped your fiat for bitcoin.
there is also far less FUD from the corrupt government and banks in those countries. for example you don't hear their bank CEO call bitcoin "fraud" while US banks do that every now and then!

They are using Bitcoin and P2P trading websites and all trading is going up in those regions and sometimes that is only solution they have to survive hyperinflation and rising of food prices.
I heard that some people are even accepting direct payments in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, but governments probably made that illegal so there is always a risk of trading with some gov agent.
One thing you need for this to work is internet connection, and a wallet, so they may try to restrict that with electricity, like we saw recently in Cuba.
That is the reason Bitcoin was invented in the first place, and not only to may people rich with crazy gains.

They couldn't use Bitcoin when their internet is shutdown. It's shut down in their country which is going to be more devastating because it's shutting up the sides of these people. Businesses that rely on the Internet, of course, are also shut down like banks.

They are blaming social media for this rage. What they are saying was that they need to be freed from their President, whoever thought it could help them when that happens.

I am very glad if BTC helps people in countries such as Cuba and Venezuela, because they themselves did not become hostages of this situation. We can say that the emergence of crypto contributes to the solution of a number of financial problems and is already helping many to earn money in our difficult time. I could feel these improvements myself, as I also use crypto to improve my well-being. I hope that such positive trends will continue and the introduction of BTC and other cryptocurrencies will also take place in other countries in need.

I remember one user from Cuba who maybe 2 years ago (I can't remember exactly), was looking for some way to earn something in crypto, so he mentioned that the price of the internet is quite expensive in Cuba. I don't know how much prices have changed in the last 3 years, but $30 for only 4 GB of data is drastically expensive (mobile data).


However, some things are changing for the better, so the legalization of private wi-fi, which allows more and more Cubans to share the Internet and costs. The more freedom and affordable internet available to them, the more they will use BTC - and the good news is that BTC has helped them improve their standard of living at least a little.

I highlighted the Venezuelan country where when there was a crisis in that country, until their currency became worthless, then they used bitcoin for the currency in that country, and at the beginning of the year bitcoin experienced a bullrun, hopefully the welfare of the country increases as its citizens have bitcoin. but currently bitcoin is in a bearish condition, hopefully there will be a reversal movement soon

That is an example of the advantages of BTC, when fiat has been contaminated by hyperinflation then the solution is only a currency that is free from inflation.  If the government is keen to see this opportunity on the basis of improving the economy in a country that has been reported to be bankrupt then there should be no ban on BTC in every country.  I feel very enthusiastic about this advantage and with this evidence it strengthens my belief that BTC is an incredibly up to date asset.

BTC is a currency with a vision of the future and the founder of BTC Mr shatoshi had that vision a long time ago and is ahead of us, BTC is a solvable currency and it also can be traded to increase profits, in recent years Venezuelans have joined. in the field of crypto power quite a few projects and I have seen their life better thanks to BTC and other coins for example nano when it is called Mrai or, they participated in typing captcha on Raiblock and earn a lot of money.

I have known this has been happening in Venezuela for a very long time but right now with the difficult and critical times that those living in Cuba are going through this is even more critical there, this is one of the great use cases of bitcoin, if a person sends money to Cuba to a family member and especially if they are sending dollars not only they lose a percentage to the government they do not even receive the dollars and receive the local and worthless currency, with bitcoin you can send the coins directly to the one you want, however the government of Cuba is also blocking the Internet so access to those coins will be intermittent.

I believe this latest news from Cuba is good news for some crypto users in that country.

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/censorship-circumvention-tool-helps-14-million-cubans-get-internet-access-2021-07-16/

Psiphon network is offering their service to "maximize your chances of bypassing censorship". So maybe, for those who want to send crypto to their family in Cuba, they can use the app to bypass their government's tight security protocol.

We can see a big list of countries having people using bitcoin on real-time need. Long back itself Indonesian plantation workers used bitcoin to send the wages to their hometown. Here payment was received in terms of bitcoin and was traded and deposited directly on to the bank account, which eliminates the intermediate who support in money transfer for a charge.

Then Nigerian and other African people for buying and selling of goods from UAE used to bring in terms of bitcoin as it is hard to carry large amount of currency and exchange on needs.

Bitcoin has a large role to play in the remittance sector. Many of the poor expat workers spend as much as 10% of the total amount as fee to service providers such as MoneyGram and Western Union, to send the remittance payments to their families. Bitcoin can process these payments for a maximum 1% fee (including the costs to convert BTC back to fiat). Also, the other providers take some time to process the payments (at least a few days), while with Bitcoin it can be done almost instantly (within 30 minutes).

I'm from Africa and BTC have changed my life for good, i started around 2017 and for three years I had nothing until 2020 and I was able to build a portfolio for myself which changes everything, now I have enough money to build a mining rigs which I already did and I also have money left in my account for buying dips, thanks to BTC and cryptocurrency

You will find similar stories from all around the world. I am from Southeast Asia, and Bitcoin had such a drastic impact on my life ever since I first invested in it (2012). Right now, around 70% of my net wealth is in the form of cryptocurrency. Even the remaining 30%, most of it came from the profit that I got from Bitcoin. We are lucky to invest in Bitcoin at an early date. There are billions out there, who are yet to do that. The choice is very simple. Invest right now, when the prices are still now, or wait until the prices reach a position where it is impossible to buy.

Wow. I don't really know what to say here but just wishing it could spread more to help other people.
Sure it's actually the government that must make the first move but if that doesn't work then I guess it should be the people that decide for their own benefit.
The truth is I have no idea what is happening there or how bad the economy is but perhaps there are groups who are doing something to help out. I wish all the best for our Venezuelan friends.

Bitcoin is Used to Aid Belarus Protestors
Bitcoin is helping out protesters in Hong Kong.
Bitcoin is used to fight against oppression in Myanmar

How did those end?
BTC is helping Venezuelans, yeah, it's helping them for 6 years already and I start to wonder how much help it needs, like one hundred years?

Money!!!! is what's helping those people, money sent by other people, it's not BTC miraculously appearing in the wallets, it's somebody exchanging fiat for BTC and from his own pocket helping those. Without those people spending money, without the people buying farm items in online games and paying for them with BTC there will be no so-called help. You need a functioning economy to generate the wealth that allows you to invest and you need to build something on top of bitcoin, a real economy. Thinking that a country will solve all the problems it has by just buying coins is simply silly, buying coins and taking profit will simply end up with everyone selling their coins and you're back to square one.


Oh, so just stashing bitcoins in your wallet alone is not helping completely if there isn't somebody to invest more so you can take out a profit and escape poverty.
What if the money doesn't come? Just what I said, without people putting money into this, without people asking for services and paying in BTC there is no help, that bunch of code lines is standing silent and not caring about anything.

it is true about some of these countries that they had high inflation rates like Venezuela but not all of them. for example the inflation rate of El Salvador wa 0.21% in 2020 and 0.07% in 2019. in comparison the inflation rate of US was 1.25% and 1.81%.
there are a lot of other countries that have widely adopted bitcoin and don't have high inflation rate or social unrest.

No one is mentioning about the ongoing protests in Cuba? It looks as if the Cubans had enough and they are protesting in the streets for the last few days, demanding an end to the socialist rule. The same has been happening in Venezuela for the last few years. Let's imagine a scenario where the socialist regimes in these two countries are taken down. It is very likely that the new government will take a more favorable view towards cryptocurrency, because in these two countries crypto is now regarded as one of the weapons of resistance against the regime.

Praises and appreciation for the Cuban-American people, because this is the best works of kindness provided to the county in need of help. This is a great actions that might influence and interest to the other neighboring countries who still hasitant to accept cryptocurrency. With the promise that it improves the lives of the people, I am confident that this will soon reach and become trending story in the whole world.

Indeed, with their inflation rate Bitcoin is a real life saver. It's good to know that Bitcoin is popular among people in Venezuela, which makes it, if I'm not mistaken, in top-3 countries by Bitcoin usage.

What's worth noticing is that venezuelans sticked with Bitcoin. I remember there were times when the government tried to trick people and created their own cryptocurrency Petro, which was centralized, but people saw right through that plan and didn't switch to the latter.
Too bad that people in China can't see what's going to happen there soon.

LOL.. Venezuela in top-3? Do you have any proof to support this absurd claim? As far as I know, the top 3 countries in terms of Bitcoin volume are - United States, Japan and China. I don't think that Venezuela ranks even among the top-10. Bitcoin is getting popular in Venezuela, but the average holding per capita and the overall trade volumes are quite low. On top of that, it is not 100% legal there. The government hasn't created any regulation, to legalize cryptocurrency in that country. In Venezuela, Bitcoin remains in the grey zone.

I was a "bit" luckier than that, I ended up selling mine, but I sold mine waaaaaay too early, it is like it wasn't even worth it, I remember selling at 500 dollars at one point, and 1k some others and 3k for the rest. I feel a bit lucky because whatever I made afterwards I sold at 20k, but I had sooo much more that I could have hold and not sold and then I would be a millionaire by now.

It is really a sad feeling to go back and calculate how much money went into your wallet and what it worths today, mine says 101 bitcoin in just one wallet, the others are not that much so I can't say much, maybe 2-3 bitcoins total, but all around it is 100 bitcoins that I sold total, and I didn't even got 100k for it, let alone 3 million like I should have if I sold today. I lost to gambling as well, and I sold the rest, never got interested in cloud mining fortunately.

Cubans are a different situation then Venezuelans, that is going to be a lot different for a very long time as well. Cubans are living in a world where Russia once sent thousands of cars from aaalll the way from other side of the world versus getting a car from nearby USA, Florida is literally right there!

So as long as Cuba never evolves a trade partnership with a world power just a small distance away, they are not going to get better, no nation would. Hell let's see if all of the world stops trading with USA and how they are doing, they will be destroyed within 10 years, be as bad as Cuba for sure without a doubt in my mind, why? Because they are banned with working together with any nation. Venezuela on the other hand is a petrostate and they make money from Oil, they didn't invest into anything else and filled officials pockets with most oil profits, so the moment oil prices went down they became horrible, if it goes up then they will be better too.

The true number is hard to figure but my claim was based on the Chainalysis cryptocurrency adoption report from 2020 (https://blog.chainalysis.com/reports/2020-global-cryptocurrency-adoption-index-2020) (scroll down to the table behind the link). The report is on all crypto, but I think it is without a doubt that the most popular cryptocurrency in Venezuela is Bitcoin.

Yes, things might have changed in a year, but since then the popularity of crypto has only been growing, especially in third-world countries, it would be logical to assume that the attitude towards Bitcoin has at least remained at the same level as before in Venezuela

I’m talking here exclusively about everyday use ranking, no mining or asset volume are included in these calculations.

Bitcoin helps Cuba and Venezuela reflect its important influence on people, and it is also beneficial to Bitcoin itself.
Bitcoin is decentralized and scarce. The use of Bitcoin for transactions can be free from government supervision and restriction, and it can also effectively control inflation.
They use Bitcoin to express their recognition and acceptance of it. The more people use it, it can increase its liquidity, and its value will rise according to the increase in demand.

This is an excellent and typical example of the advantage of cryptocurrencies over Fiat which the central banks of certain nations are trying so hard to fight. I'm sure Satoshi for saw this when he/she/they created Bitcoin.

What's happening in Cuba has also happened in a certain West African Nations in October, 2020, when the country's youths protested against police brutality. A group known as Feminist Coalition received the total sum of N150,062,460.57 (One Hundred and Fifty Million, Sixty Two Thousand, Four Hundred and Sixty Naira, Fifty Seven Kobo ) only was realized from the donations platforms. The money was received through various currencies such as BTC USD, CAD. GBP, EUR, GHS, and KES, during the protests from individuals all over the world. The funds were used to cover food and water for protesters as well as medical supplies and hospital bills when necessary. Interesting to note was the group's financial integrity and accountability. They shared a breakdown of how they spent the donations received during the  protests on their website and social media handles.

It's a good thing that at this time when oppressors are in the rise, Bitcoin has come to the rescue.

https://www.36ng.ng/2021/05/08/feminist-coalition-publishes-audited-accounts-of-endsars-donations/

There is no doubt that Bitcoin (and some of the other cryptocurrencies) are insanely popular in Venezuela. But given their small population (20 million?) and relatively low purchasing power, I don't think that Venezuela accounts for a large share of the global cryptocurrency volumes. The numbers for Cuba will be even lower. Countries with relatively high purchasing power, such as the United States and Japan will be on top of the list. In terms of adoption, Venezuela will be one of the top-most countries. But the same can't be said about absolute volumes.

This is only possible from my end because of two things; one bitcoin possesses the feature of the store of value and with this, the countries concerned can actually trade with it. Two, the parties involved accepting bitcoin as a means of transaction, if this is not so it can never happen even though bitcoin can be of use to them and not ban by their irrespective government.

These were always the usecase for bitcoin and people somehow forgot about it. Remember bitcoin was created because fiat was something that is not as good as it can get, it is corrupted and centralized and all the bad people are using it to make themselves richer and make you poorer. With crypto you could have fair grounds and everyone is equal, who does this help? People who are living in a nation that has horrible fiat currency and very limited rights.

This would be perfect for women in Saudi Arabia, people in North Korea, some people in china, in any place where government is dictatorial would be perfect example of this and would definitely help. I personally think that people will eventually realize this, but it will take their governments taking more and more rights away from them and fiat price would drop even more, inflation should be a lot more.

This is great news, I really hope that a bitcoin economy develops there as with internet access and a smartphone people can make use of cryptocurrencies, and if they use the lightning network then they can pay very low fees on their purchases and their family members can send them money knowing full well they are not supporting an authoritarian government that gets to steal all the dollars they send and keep them for themselves, now it is the turn of those living in Cuba to take advantage of the technology and use it for their benefit.

I think this truly what the bitcoin was created for and this is what people should take and should aim for when developing a cryptocurrency, the ability to be able to ascend all the ties and all the shackles put on by our governments and the control that they have over us, the bitcoin is making the world a more balanced place by giving power to the people and providing new opportunities for those who can't find it because it is not provided by the country.

Bitcoin is not suitable for such purposes, because it is not an anonymous currency. Each and every transaction is recorded in the Blockchain and it makes easier for the authorities to track down the users and prosecute them. On paper, you can use DEX platforms and P2P exchanges to trade your coins, but even these avenues are not 100% safe. The point you convert your BTC to fiat, it no longer remains anonymous. And all it takes is one such transaction, to trace back all of your cryptocurrency dealings.

This show us that not only the Cuban government is only looking for themselves but many of the rest of the countries are doing the same as well, they are expressing their concerns that the people of Cuba cannot get support from their family members living in other countries because the government steals the money they send and yet they never propose for the people to begin to use bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies, why? Because they have been describing bitcoin as a tool of terrorists and if it was used for something like this in a massive way the perception the people have of bitcoin will change overnight.

I was hoping that this could have a big help for them to live better but the question is if it becomes sustainable and if it gains support from their leaders knowing that how corrupt are they. I was delighted with such changes but I was also afraid if their leaders will seize all of their holdings just like it happens to the other country. 

https://decrypt.co/68676/cuba-cryptocurrency-communist-party-agenda

Our goverment here is highly hypocritical when comes to Bitcoin & Petro.
Petro can't be mined only bought with USD, Bs and actual crypto currrencies like BTC, LTC, DOGE, DASH.

On the other hand, military here have built their own mining farms with stolen and seized ASICs from the populance, of course they only mine the real deal: BTC.

Let's not forget these people are socialists.

The 2020 annual inflation rate in Venezuela reached 6,500%, causing many Venezuelans to switch to the US dollar. According to the Venezuelan think tank Ecoanalitica, more than half of all financial transactions
of the country, that is, about 66% are made in the American currency. As a result of this Venezuelan hyperinflation, the trade in cryptocurrencies paid for with the Venezuelan bolivar has greatly increased.
https://i.imgur.com/CeFxbjh.png
In Venezuela, there are many cryptotraders who are among the most active in the world, alongside the US and Russia, when it comes to peer-to-peer (P2P) trading of dollar-based cryptocurrencies, this claim is made by
Chainalysis New York blockchain analysts. In Cuba, the situation with bitcoin seems to be progressing, on 8/26/2021 the Ministry of Economy published resolution 215/2021 which now recognizes cryptocurrencies and bitcoin
authorizing its use mainly for reasons of socioeconomic interest. With this resolution, Cubans will be able to trade bitcoin because, due to economic embargoes imposed by the United States since 1960, Cuba has always had problems with the use of the US dollar and bitcoin can help move the local economy, one of the problems encountered with this regulation is due to political and economic instability
of the country, which makes it unlikely that its regulation will follow a decentralized model as in El Salvador, but in any case it is a good start.

yes, it was a really good thing for them. And it was great that they know about it. It can save them financially like everyone who earns and trusts bitcoin all over the world. It shows the real reasons why bitcoin was created, and that was to give and help everyone financially. The government can't limit them or get their own money form them.

Bitcoin can help anyone as long as you need it.
Don't do bad things with Bitcoin. Although Bitcoin is anonymous, every transaction is recorded on the public chain.
Many major countries have not yet officially adopted Bitcoin. But there is no ban on Bitcoin.
I believe that the use of Bitcoin will become more and more popular in the future. More and more countries allow the use of Bitcoin, because the value of Bitcoin is slowly being discovered by everyone.

Not Cubans, they're a communist country so I don't think that they're going to benefit too much with bitcoin plus they wouldn't have any use of it if they have one because they probably rely on P2P and I am pretty sure that there's not a lot of people there that have money to buy their crypto.

Well we cannot really say that since we don't know more deeper about their situation but we cannot disclose that they can't afford to buy bitcoins as they still have works and businesses so for sure they can afford to buy at any amount they can spend with it. And since there's a news spreading about Cuba is thinking about legalizing bitcoin then for sure their government is now looking for possibilities and how they can get benefit for adopting it, maybe in next following months we can see their decision so let see what will happen to it as for sure they are now monitoring on the progress of El Salvador after they accept bitcoin as their Legal tender.

Cuba is very serious about its plans to legalize Bitcoin as a legal tender.  Like El Salvador, which first made it a legal tender in the country.  Currently, the people of El Salvador must have made a very large profit especially because the market has returned to its stable position.  If 2 months ago they had Bitcoin in their hands then today the value of BTC they have held will increase very high.  Is there any money in this world that appreciates more than Bitcoin.  Even the USD alone is not that strong.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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 .

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.

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.

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.

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..

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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

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.

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.

Given the fact that people need to realize that whatever is being felt in Venezuela or in Cuba at this time, we hope that the problem is only one, all must recognize Bitcoin is not just for people. for the big holders, but we all should remember that When the digital economy is only for growth thanks to the account investors, we can determine that Venezuela gets there too, Yes, I think thanks to BTC that makes them out of poverty and progress :)

I think that the main thing that you should take into account for such a course is that they teach you to understand the market, because only technical analysis I do not recommend, because in any social network you can find any free course where they teach indicators, technical tools. And the market must know how to understand it to make a good technical analysis, since the market has influences from corporations, institutional investment, investors, whales, by understanding such acts that they can do, technical analysis has a better effect on commercial decisions. . Of course those who are most happy are those who bought cheap, but in any case it is exciting that BTC rises, because not only is the effect of BTC, it is also the effect it has on other altcoins, and everything is a total effect on the market depending on the investment.

According to one of the best price prediction models is the S2F, and it is a very successful model and states that the first target is for $ 100k, and the second target is $ 288k, so knowing this, it is likely that if BTC it goes up to more than $ 64k many will be happy, and when it goes up to $ 100k it will be a total madness of joys on the part of many people in the world.

Cubans and Venezuelans only Bitcoin can really make their lives better. and There's more good to countries that use Bitcoin as a medium of exchange than bad, even with the volatility attached to it making it seem like it wouldn't be okay to use it instead of Fiat. but according to my reading a lot of news Bitcoin has become very popular for these two countries and their life bitcoin is a part of it.

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.

this is really great to hear from a person who is a resident of the country that we are talking about. at least, get your insights on how btc is helping ordinary citizens in that country. as we don't know the exact usage of btc from your end, we are getting the glimpse of how btc is giving some peace of mind to those crypto holders in your country. this is a testament that a lot here don't see it as an advantage because they are not experiencing such situation. but for residents like in your country, it is a big deal to avoid extortion from supposedly protectors.

It has come handy as well to receive money from abroad in exchange of some oddjobs many people do here or even remitances.
To put you in context, many people here has had problems with Paypal, because this is problaby one of the few countries on the planet that do not provide us with credit cards in USD (we used to have credit cards in Bolivars but the inflation rate used to go way faster than the interest of the cards so the bankers ended up losing money with them, there was a time people used their credit cards as much as possible to buy food and paid the minimum to the banks for the loan, expecting the inflation to eat it all away) so since we dont have credit cards, we can't bind one with Paypal, taking the risk to have our money frozen, seized or our accounts closed without reason. With a good crypto-wallet we do not need to be afraid of it and we can sell for local FIAT in case of an emergency fairly quickly thanks to the high liquidity of the market.

It is easier to see the adventages of blockchain technology and decentralizaction when one is in a situation like this one, almost defendless, in my opinion.

This is something I agree with. What's the point now that it's been legalized? They have a high rate of inflation, which reduces the value of their fiat currency. I haven't read anything about how they plan to improve the financial system; all I know is that they have legalized it or that bitcoin will fill the void. I think I'll do some research on this and get back to you if I find anything., I'm just upset about it because they haven't provided any justifications.

Do you expect normal citizens in an oppresing political system to "improve the financial system" ?
Closest thing we have managed to do here is impose the USD as de facto common currency besides de Bolivar, even with a higher adoption of the BTC by the people (how is currently happening) that won't change the situation for many of the people here while we have the same useless people leading the country.

For instance, there is a good reason the government can't legalize as currency USD or BTC here: they can't pay public workers in neither of those currencies, and a good percentage of the workers here are public ones, I'd dare to say over 40%-50%. The rules knows they do not hace the liquidity to pay them so they allow the dollar and BTC to gain adoption while continue to pay the 50% of the workers in worthless FIAT (about 2$ monthly is the min wage, private workers receive more).

I have known personally teachers from public universities who literally work for free (a few of dollars month pais in Bolivars) and do not quit their job in order to accumulate enough years of service to qualify for social security (hoping in the future when they are elderly, it may be helpful under a different administration) or simply out of stubbornness because they have been doing that job for more than a decade. Of course, most of them get another job with a private employee, but still, they work for free and the government knows but do not care, it is better for their plans that way.

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.

Thanks again ! This answer of yours is perhaps the most valuable in the entire thread - a brief and full description of the situation in general. Well, as a result - from bitcoin, as a means of payment, there is more hype than mass, real, benefit. On the other hand, the empty little, but the accumulation of crypt can become a very useful helper in the short term - the crypto market still allows you to earn money, and even if only 1 in the family will earn on this, but this means that the whole family will live easier. We in Ukraine also once had a time with galloping inflation and multi-million dollar salaries, fortunately we survived these times, and we live in a world that is not the most stable, but already more predictable. I sincerely wish that everything will change for the better for you, and the existing problems will be fundamentally resolved!

Crypto is used widely in Venezuela, we have heard of some news before 2017 that there are already resorts accepting DASH in there. It's best for them to just accept crypto directly without fiat for there is a chance of them making more money when prices spikes.

I don't know about Cuba but probably increasing as well. The rise of cryptocurrency use in the country has led the government to kill switch the internet back when there was an SOS trending during the surge of Covid19 infection.

I don't know how it become always useful to the countries that are struggling hard for their economies like Cuba and Venezuela. They are actually rich but they have been ruled by corrupt leaders bringing them to suffer and put in poverty.

Even they adopt Bitcoin, I still don't think if this will be the solution to their economic problem coz ever since this was not. Might this could give an opportunity for the jobless people, for those who want to invest to earn some money but this seems so hard for those who really don't have any.

in theory this seems very reasonable and in fact it is true that way because indeed with this bitcoin everyone, especially investors who are in bitcoin, will have the option of transacting because there are two choices, namely fiat and bitcoin.
and of course I think most people will choose bitcoin because as you mentioned they can at least avoid the extra fees that will be added when transacting via fiat.
although there must be people or some who oppose this because they are suspected of avoiding excessive taxes :) and will definitely refer to the assumption that bitcoin is one of terrorist propaganda :)

You can't just tell that they should adopt it right away. There's a process for everything and if the people are the ones adopting it and there's no government intervention then that's a better thing.
As long as the government doesn't stop or discourage these people to get along with btc, that's totally fine.

for a person maybe the presence of bitcoin can help in a good direction, but for a country with having to legalize bitcoin immediately, I don't think it's an easy way. Moreover, we know that only a few countries have legalized it, while we also need international relations with other countries. Of course the government will calculate the risks and rewards for this

For a country, it's difficult to see it that it will come from them that they're adopting. Although there were countries that are pro bitcoin already and it never stops to see those countries turning to be kind to bitcoin because they're seeing the positive sentiment and impact of it.
They're not willing to take the risk because on their side, they have to protect their economy from such high volatile asset.

On September 15, the regulations that regulate the use of crypto assets in Cuba and the granting of licenses for financial exchange and payment operations came into force.

It is the principle for Cuba to improve its economy and the quality of life of its inhabitants. Once launched, the best thing is for its inhabitants to learn to take advantage of what the law offers them. I want the government of Cuba to be a leader in this regard and that everyone has their opportunity.

On the other hand, in Venezuela we have a regulation of crypto assets that came into effect on January 31, 2019 and the Venezuelan population has not reacted in masses, only some sectors have taken the initiative to include crypto assets in their economic activities.

The reason I can think of lack of promotion of the government to make use of the regulations of cryptoactives in the country.

https://www.vtv.gob.ve/gaceta-oficial-ley-criptoactivos/ (https://www.vtv.gob.ve/gaceta-oficial-ley-criptoactivos/)

Thank you and I hope you can also solve your problems with Russia and NATO.

If you ever have any question about Venezuela feel free to ask.

It could not have been better expressed, it is a reality that everything related to crypto and foreign currency is the infallible option of Venezuelans, it is also necessary to emphasize that the US dollar is what is most handled in the country, and in the border area with Colombia handles both the Colombian Peso (COP) and the dollar.

It is also very common to exchange Bs in transfer to buy USD, and at a black market price, not at the normal price that is handled when you search in google.

Bitcoin clearly represents the way out of the crisis, but not everyone knows BTC and as he has said before, if you have a fraction of BTC saved and you have an emergency, that fraction of BTC is used without thinking, because apart from everything, any service is as expensive as in Ibiza here, showing that 1000USD to 10000USD is not so much money in Venezuela, because it can be easily spent without realizing it, some people are like that, as well as others who with 100USD work miracles to survive.

So this is already moving into the format of the usual use of crypt, as in many other countries. This has nothing to do with saving the economy, "it just means that cryptocurrencies, not bitcoin or some other kind, but all crypts, went to the masses, and the market adapted to their appearance, as a means of payment, or as a payment surrogate that suits many

If "saving the economy" means saving the interests of central banks and the politicians, then Bitcoin is not suitable for that purpose. Venezuelans use Bitcoin just because their own national currency is worthless. The ruling elite has other ways to take care of their expenses and to maintain their wealth, but for the vast majority of the ordinary Venezuelans that is not the case. With the annual inflation nearing 10,000%, they are desperate to save their wealth. Other assets like gold and platinum are not readily available there and even if the are available, the threat of confiscation will be there.

Yup if their currency is still standing High till now , I'm sure bitcoin will not enter their economy this big because surely they will prioritize using their respective fiat than this virtual money.
10,000% annual inflation ? damn that is the lowest dropping country in the world now.
 Yes Venezuela is just going to what they can only afford now.

Some time ago I heard that the adoption of bitcoin, attention as an OFFICIAL means of payment, will help stabilize the situation in the country's financial market. This is about Venezuela. And then something similar appeared about Cuba. That is why I could not understand HOW it will help the ECONOMY !? This will not help the economy in any way, but it can give the population an opportunity to earn a little, with a reasonable approach (do not forget about the volatility of this market). The crypto has the advantage - you can get it without paying attention to yourself as with a bank transfer, it is safer to store than gold ...

See? Bitcoin is already spreading widely, now a lot of Cubans and Venezuelans are already experiencing what Satoshi wanted for all of us. Bitcoin is indeed a big help for everyone anywhere in the world, even in remote areas.
Because of inflation, fiat currencies nowadays doesn't make that much of a living, people need other income that has great value like bitcoin.

I just hope though that their government will allow and won't intervene about the usage of bitcoin in the said countries. If their government is pro-bitcoin then there will be no problem unlike China.

most governments only see this case from the negative side, namely the very volatile bitcoin price which can cause a sudden decline in the value of the asset. the government should also look at it from the positive side because in fact bitcoin does help the economy of many people. when the world economy is in turmoil like it is now someone who invested in bitcoin in the past will definitely find it very helpful, and that means bitcoin also helps restore the world economy.

Bitcoin has been really a good substitute for other worthless currencies. It's a good thing that other countries recognize it as a useful currency especially during hard times. Other strict countries are also using it to transact internationally. The convenience that Bitcoin has been providing is really helpful for lots of users.

It is difficult to hodl when there are some many things that could go wrong and the most basic civil rights as healthcare are not longer guaranteed.
But You don't need me to tell you about it, you have probably already lost someone because of the awful conditions of the public services, as happened to me.


To be completely honest, inflation (even though it is still a problem) has been experimenting a deceleration since a couple of years ago. Back in 2015-2018 the situation was insane, you could be in a line  waiting for your turn to pay and and price of your products would be updated when you reached the cash register.

Nowadays, the situation is a  bit less dramatic, thanks to the adoption of USD and to a lesser extent Crypto.

You can check this graphic from Statista as example. (https://www.statista.com/statistics/371895/inflation-rate-in-venezuela/)




I agree, hopefully we all as a community will be able to face the FUD and counter-crypto measures the ones who don't want our money to be free from a rigid and old system will take.

The transition to the American dollar, as a temporary measure, is the most logical move for this situation. Simple, understandable, and really predictable for ordinary people, and this is very important. And the most important thing is stability, as long as the dollar is the blood of the world economy, nothing bad is guaranteed to happen to it, and everywhere it will be welcome as a means of payment

It is not even just about these nations, I live in a much better nation, my nation is in the world power list, we are economically in the top 20-30 or whatever, so there are like 100+ nations which are a lot worse than my nation. However I still feel like I am only making profit and having a good life thanks to bitcoin. If my job is gone today then I would have to find some other option and I would have to end up making a little bit of profit then it would be something that would be horrible for me.

I really do believe that we should be focusing on how much bitcoin can change a life and it is not limited to small nations. I mean even in a nation like USA and UK, there are so many people who could make the money I make and be super happy about it. Sure it is not going to be good for a person who has full time good salary, but a college student could have something like mine and be happy about it.

The interesting thing is that the adoption happened because the people started to slowly switch to it after the government made legal to carry foreign currency in 2018, before it was not legal to have USD in cash. All this it is rather an improvised thing, because the administration is not paying in dollars to public workers, private employers do, though.

I remember one of your previous posts, in which you claimed that it is not 100% legal to carry US Dollar banknotes and corrupt policemen sometimes steam them if they find the banknotes. In such instances, Bitcoin may be more convenient, as they are easier to conceal. Even if some tech savvy cop searches your mobile phone, he will have a hard time in stealing the coins. Only issues are the high volatility rate for Bitcoin and the fact that not all the shops don't accept BTC in Venezuela. The reconversion of BTC to USD is going to be a problem.

indeed, in such a slump, the main thing is to seek economic stability by using the dollar. but if that is not possible then the government takes a bold step by using bitcoin, even though it has high volatility, but if successful then the country's recovery will be achieved faster

Perhaps I did not expressed myself correctly.
Having USD is legal now, but there is a chance some official give you the stop at an outpost and notice much USD in your wallet while you give them your documents. If the official is corrupt they may try to make up an excuse or situation so they can keep your money. That's one of the reasons people do not go outside with their cash unless they need to and also use payment systems, Uphold and Zelle are popular here, among others.

BTC to USD it is possible. Liquidity between BTC and our local currency is high,(so is it the liquidity between BTC and USD within different platforms like Uphold) once you sell BTC for Bolivars all you need to do is buy USD cash, which is the annoying part. However, since the Bolivar is still accepted through digital transferences among banks, it is no problem to buy with them. The prices are tagged in USD but if you only have Bolivars, the shopkeeper gives you the equivalent price in Bolivars according to the exchange rate of the day.

And I am agree, BTC it is easy to hide specially if leaving the country (officials are specially "picky" at airports). Also, here in Venezuela, we have a departament store called "Traki", there are many around the country and they accept crypto currency, so you can buy several things here in crypto (last time I asked about it at one Traki as in 2019), not mentioning the other bussiness in the big cities who already accept it. Someone who lives in our capital could easily live on cryptocurrency.

https://i.imgur.com/f8RAhz4.jpg

Source: https://twitter.com/jacksonpo7/status/1059130163743600641

https://i.imgur.com/OYOnGTQ.jpg

Source: https://www.diariobitcoin.com/articulos/noticias/traki-la-tienda-por-departamento-venezolana-cuenta-por-que-acepta-criptomonedas/

https://i.imgur.com/d7072ZW.jpg

Source: https://twitter.com/trakienganchate/status/339183911718486016?lang=ga

https://i.imgur.com/ANMmLKK.jpg

Source: https://www.descifrado.com/2020/07/29/tiendas-traki-ofrece-servicio-de-compras-en-linea/

Bitcoin has become a trend today, the number of global companies that invest in bitcoin like Tesla certainly gives an illustration that the future of bitcoin will be bright, this is what makes us optimistic that we can increase prosperity by investing bitcoin.

And what - now the state pays social benefits, salaries, and so on in bitcoin? By the way, why is the dollar not suitable, which can be freely received, changed, used for payment? At the same time, there are no losses on transactions, no difficulties in use?

No. The state continues paying all that with local currency.
I meant we adopted USD in an informal way, nowadays USD in cash is used for many daily transaction in businesses like supermarkets, malls, etc. The only difficulty we have find while using USD in cash is the change, we dont have coins here of USD and bills of 1$-5$ are uncommon, so if you need to pay 5$ with a 20$ bill you may have trouble if the shopkeeper does not have change.

People have opted to spend the whole bill at the shop or receive the change in local currency through a quick bank transference.

Well, we came to the conclusion that the use of stable currencies is a completely suitable and simple solution for all segments of the population. The only "problem" is the problem with the bargaining chip in order to give change. It seems to me that this is not critical, well, at least in the current situation. But payment with bitcoin is a technologically more complicated solution, for some part of society it is not available. The ambiguous price of bitcoin - here the bitcoin holder can both receive additional income and an uncontrollable decrease in his savings. Transaction Fee - It's not going anywhere. If the buyer does not pay for the transaction itself, most likely it is already included in the cost of the product. The question is why all this hype and almost hysteria with shouts of "Bitcoin will save the economy!" ? :)

The adoption of USD has indeed help us to fight inflation but does not do much in terms of helping to keep the minimum salary as a fair retribution or one's services, since the government is not willing to fix the problem they have with public workforce.

On the other hand, the enthusiam and hype you may have heard about Bitcoin and other crypto-assest in a country like mine or others like Argentina, Cuba, ect, it is due to our people has been lived through rather an authoritarian control over the economy in order to meet political agendas and things like that.

It is not the same to live in a country of Europe or in the USA and discover the advantages of Bitcoin, to live in an economically represed country like mine, where many things you take for granted: things like stable currency, credit cards, payment processors like paypal, ect are not available or are more difficult to access to.

In my personal point of view, Bitcoin it is not about saving a whole country, but rather protect those who give it a try from authoritarism and reckless economical measures taken by those in power.

Living economically oppressed and then discover, learn about Bitcoin and experiment how It slowly changes one's quality of life (in term of financial management) it is something that make our people to become really excited, there is where part of the hype comes from, and I understand it.

I agree that cryptocurrency for your countries is a chance to potentially change your life. But you need to understand that even though the general trend of bitcoin in recent years is the growth of its price, it also has drawdowns .. And in general it is a purely speculative instrument. This must be remembered and must be taken into account. I am sure that with the right approach, many people will be able, even if not to become millionaires, but to raise their standard of living!

I am very aware that Bitcoin and other crypto-currencies are mostly speculative tools and may lead to gains and losses. I am not only interested on getting some future yields on savings, I am also interested how this technology has introduced a new way to use financial instruments and the self-custody of assets, that is very important to me in a personal way, since I trust myself more than I trust my government and its institutions.

If you ever have any other question about Venezuela, feel free to ask.  :)

The bolded part is true not just for Venezuela, but for countries around the world. We can't trust any of the current governments, after what happened in Cyprus. They will print banknotes like crazy, loan unlimited amounts of money and when they need to repay those loans they will start confiscating our assets. And this is not something that is limited to socialist countries like Venezuela and Cuba. Nowadays a lot of the governments are leaning towards socialist policies and such occurrences (Cyprus bank deposit haircut) may be more common.

Yes, mistrust of the government, the system, the banking system - the reasons that really push the population to look for alternative solutions to save and increase their wealth. Previously, people, for such purposes, buried their savings in treasures, now they buy bitcoin ...
In my country (Ukraine), there was also a slightly similar period. The rulers are thieves, the collapse of the economy, the degradation of the country .... Money became cheaper at a wild rate. But then we were saved by saving savings in dollars or German marks (then there was no EU and Euro).

PS Thank you for the opportunity to learn about your country first-hand. Unfortunately, we have only fragmentary information about Venezuela ... the country has enough of its own problems. If you have questions about Ukraine, I'm ready to answer :)

I am aware that there is not only lack of trust here in my country otherwise, Bitcoin would not be as popular as it is. However, the mainstream thought here among people who do not much about foreign politics/economics it is that USD and gold are the most stable and useful assets to have your money in. There still trust in the USD here since it is the conventional course of action to people who have no knowledge about crypto for now and don't know how to buy stock or equities. To be honest, I used to think the same way as I no-coiner.

The social security tradionally is also very different here, in USA and other countries, people invest to earn for retirement. Here people used to simply save, obviously that backfired with the inflation, now the elderly depend on their sons and grand-sons to survive.

_______________________________________________________________________________ ___________



I have heard a bit about some corruption in Ukraine in the past, I remember the massive protests back in 2014 and things like that.
I also remember the whole situation with Russia and Crimea, but I have not tracked more news about it,  have the NATO helped you to keep the control of that area?

1. Corruption in Ukraine has not disappeared anywhere... Moreover, with the new president and his team, corruption flourished with renewed vigor. Nothing, one thief was driven out of the country and the other will be sent to hell :)
2. NATO does not solve such problems if it is not a NATO country. Ukraine was just planning to become at least an associate member of NATO, but ... did not have time ...
While the United States and its partners are still fighting terror - Russia, the EU, as a rule, only "expresses concern," and sluggishly extends the sanctions out of the shadow of the United States' cannon. And here, unfortunately, the country will not be helped by such a decision as the adoption of bitcoin as a means of payment, unfortunately, only military confrontation and victory will help us ... Another option is loss and, in fact, the destruction of Ukraine.
But what is good - the United States has activated a program of technical support for the armed forces of Ukraine, equipment, technology, training, experience, and finance. Many thanks to them for this! This greatly increases the option of a positive solution to the problem, because the Russian army is only advertised as "great and mighty." They never risked fighting a less powerful rival, ready to defend themselves. All of their "victorious" wars are a war against the small and weak, against the civilian population and those countries where there is guaranteed no more or less normal army. A vile country, deceitful, cowardly. By the way, therefore, I really hope that Cuba and Venezuela will not continue close relations with the Russian Federation, they traditionally help totalitarian rulers and help them destroy the local population that does not agree with the antihuman government...

I am afraid we stepped into the Chinese-Russian debt trap, and Russian mostly has strong ties with my government to have influence within the American continent. It is well-known we have already housed some Russian military here in the past for some time, not much.

Also, I did not know Russia intended the complete destruction of Ukraine, I thought they wanted to take over Crimea to have more access to non-frozen waters.

The fact that Russia loves to send its terrorist troops to other countries, under the guise of assistance, and then either protect the bastard tyrant rulers, or help arrange a coup and seize power, to help the same terrorist rulers.

Regarding Crimea, this is a peninsula that Ukraine revived by supplying it with part of the water from the Dnieper River. Crimea came to life precisely after it was transferred from the RSFSR (a republic in the USSR, today's Russia), to Ukraine (then the Ukrainian SSR, part of the USSR), since the RSFSR could not create anything there, nor could they establish the life and work of people. It was Ukraine that gave the start to the development of Crimea. When Russia occupied and annexed Crimea, Ukraine blocked the Dnieper canal. And now the key problem of Crimea is the lack of fresh water! There was not and there is not enough fresh water on the peninsula, it was always given from its reserves by Ukraine ... Now Russia is destroying the Crimea, a storm of wells, and this is absolutely impossible to do because the process of salinization of the earth begins, this process is almost irreversible, this will kill the earth and make it sterile for many hundreds of years ... Therefore, I will say again, the recommendation is to fight away from Russia and your country will have fewer problems ...

It is necessary to emphasize that all this problem is only for particular economies, when we speak of government, bank and entities that are completely "plugged in" to the government, they do not have economic problems, because dollars are the main asset for them, they have so much that they do not know how to store it or how they can handle it.

The BTC for many if it helps them to solve mainly the basic problems, these are: Food, medicine ... Services are not so expensive, but they are beginning to raise prices, which is not such a good thing, this having keep in mind that wages and salaries are still in Bs, but with a fully dollarized economy, where the jobs that must be done to survive demand the maximum capacity of the people.

Dont you think Russia it is quite powerfull and big to fight off one's territory so easily?
Fortunately we are not into a direct conflict against them like you are, that must be quite rough to deal with.


It is obvious the administration is not willing to dollarize the salaries of the public workers, on the other hand, there are already private businesses paying a dollarized salary to their workers, not the best salary, but it is better than being a public worker.

Yes, but the must be is that if the government is placing all the requirements to do any management in USD, the most logical thing is that they pay in USD.

They are already going to do a pilot test in the State of Táchira through Banco Bicentenario to have an account in Colombian Pesos (COP). they are doing imagine to win votes for December, always these strategies are used by politicians to create emotion in the people. That is what they announced through a well-known politician who is supported by the national government, the idea is not bad, but they should do it with all banks and impose currencies such as COP, USD, EUR, and that everyone has access to the same currencies and the respective payment in them.

Yes, but unfortunately this administration has proven to lack of logical and common sense in the past.
They are trying to adapt the banking system so the people who are making money through private businesses or working for private businesses will feel confident enough to deposit cash, among other things.


It is a fact most of the banks here are moving forward to include foreign currencies on their platforms, however, that does nor mean the government will pay in such currencies the wages of public workers. Those options are meant for people who have access to USD, COP, EUR in before, in my opinion.

The Venezuelan forex reserves have almost run dry and it will be impossible for the government to pay the employees in foreign currency. And despite the crude oil prices going up, I haven't noticed any significant improvement to this situation. Now the banks are allowing foreign currencies in their platform, because they don't want the unregulated market to take advantage of the situation. Ideally they should be accepting cryptocurrency as well, because the number of users (as far as I know) is in millions.

They have no intentions to pay woth actual currency even if they had a way to do so.
I speculate they may be expecting many people to quit their bad-paid jobs, so they can make those industries more atractive for future investors /buyers.

True, they also want to take advantage of the already chaotic situation they supposedly tired to avoid during all these years, by bad-mouthing the USD.


It would not be wise to trust them crypto, at all.
any hardware wallet would be safer that handing over any satoshi to such incompetent politicians/banks.

Do you seriously think so ??
Alas ... I have to disappoint you ...
1. Let's start simple. Big or great. Yes, geometrically - Russia is the largest country on our planet. But there is a small nuance. The real area suitable for the systematic residence of people (this is not only to put a building, but also infrastructure, industry, agricultural land, etc.), this is only (sit on a chair and hold on) 20% (TWENTY PERCENT of the total area) !!!!
2. Population. Officially, it is now talking about about 140 million people. But in reality - since 2010 the population census has not been translated. Why? I will not say. But for some reason, by this time (2010), the indicators of the quality of life in the Russian Federation slipped to the bottom - low fertility, high mortality, high growth rates of tuberculosis, AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, alcoholism and drug addiction ... Most likely, like any totalitarian regime, Russia is such they try to hide information. It can be assumed that the real population is 80-90 million, only 2.5-3 times more than Ukraine :)
3. Army. I won't tell you a lot, just a few facts from reality. Russian weapons look good in advertising brochures, corrupt deals and propaganda cartoons! 2020-2021 - Russia is among the leaders of the military-industrial complex, sliding down. The destruction of corruption schemes and "controlled" governments has dramatically reduced the volume of arms sales. The failures of the vaunted S400 and similar systems in Syria, Libya, Azerbaijan - showed the true face of "a weapon that has no analogues in the world." It turned out it didn't work. It does not deliver the claimed effectiveness and does not fulfill its objectives. The poor quality of avionics and the production cycle put an end to the joint project with India in the development of a 5th generation fighter, which, by the way, has not yet entered the Russian army. Regular accidents with military aircraft in Russia are all a consequence of the expiration of Soviet equipment. Everything that was done later in the Russian Federation does not work as planned. Even strategic troops are experiencing constant problems with attempts to productively exploit new copies of nuclear weapons.
Well, a few words about the army as a whole. I probably would also consider her "strong" if I were not living in the country, and did not personally observe how these losers tried to "easily reach Kiev, in 2 days" , full-fledged units, with the latest weapons, ended in complete failure .. Despite the fact that in Ukraine in 2014-2015 there was almost no combat-ready army ("merit" of the fled traitor president), even volunteer battalions were enough to first stop the offensive of the "strongest army ", and then return a significant part of the captured territory. After that, hysteria began in Russia, all these Minsk agreements, which in fact stopped the liberation operation of the Ukrainian land from terrorists.
That is why now Russia is actively using local terrorists as cannon fodder, trying to slightly reduce the flow of coffins from Ukraine to Russia.
Yes, if this is not enough - just remember, but do you remember that over the past 30 years, the Russian army fought with someone who had at least a little bit of strength? Let me remind you against whom the "great army" fought - Moldova, Georgia, Ichkeria, Ukraine, civilians of Libya and Syria. But, for example, when Turkey calmly shot down Russian planes, Russia silently swallowed everything and kept silent. She didn't answer. When Azerbaijan and Turkey liberated the Azerbaijani lands from the Armenian-Russian aggression, Russia was silent and was afraid to utter a word so that only Turkey would not take more harsh measures.
In a word - read less, listen, watch the propaganda of the Kremlin storytellers, the reality is not the same as they say! :)

Well, according to how the panorama is in each country, it is obvious that you must live in the countries in question to be able to express an opinion of weight, it is not the same to repeat what the media say, which is not that they tell lies, but it is necessary to recognize that if there is a degree of manipulation and that they only say what they want to be known.For this reason, it is necessary to emphasize that it is complicated from the economic point of view of each country that they have a culture that adheres to the communist and the socialist, that in reality everything tends to communism, socialism in reality for these nations is just a disguise.

I was aware that Russian pòpulation was not uniformely distributed over the Russian federation, there is a lot of the country which is basically un-habited and vulnerable. I was also aware of the problems concerning drugs, alcohol and very very bad car driving (Russian cars accident videos on YT are legendary).

However, I must admit, that many of the things you ahave exposed to me are knew. I have always looked to Russia as a big country, with a lot of energetic resources, nuclear weapons and somehow still dealing with corruption in many levels.

The geo-political details you mentioned about the Russian reaction to direct aggresion suggest that they are aware of their weaknesses and wish not to engage directly for now in major conflicts, I assume they may plan to strangle their European rivals using Russian gas dependence in the future (Nordstream 2).

Also, all this reminds me back in the day when economical sanctions against Russian Economy were quite a headache to the Kremlin.



As far as I am was aware, theorically socialism is a previous step towards communism (which is the ultimate objective to reach according to Marx).
Personally, I supect many of people who call themselves "socialist" nowadays do not even know what it is.

The problem of Russia is that they decided that everything is allowed to them and they are inviolable, and the fact that they were like the USSR, with a degrading raw materials economy, and remained. And the scenario of the sanctions-a complete collapse of the economy-disintegration into parts, is likely to be implemented with modern Russia. Of course , it will not be tomorrow, but in the future 10-15 years, it may very well be ...

And about socialism. I have already said that the very idea of ​​socialism is not bad. But it is not self-sufficient due to the lack of a high-quality economic model. Therefore, some Western countries, crossing capitalism and socialism, got a very interesting version.

But the model of "Soviet socialism" is a pitiful semblance of the above. Plus, it was necessarily accompanied by terror, violence and lack of moral values. We could observe such socialism in the USSR, Cuba, and some other countries where, after the collapse of the USSR, they did not begin to build a normal community.

I’ve always wondered ways that people believed people cryptocurrency can be of help to countries like this that are in poverty, and the only thing I can figure out is that it can only assist them in ways of transactions. Apart from being used for transaction, I don’t really see any other means.

So, people in Cuban or Venezuela that have families in the EU and US or any part of the world can now be able to receive money from their families abroad easily without having any hindrances at all. So, it is so good that they have such a technology at their reach. Why most of them will prefer Bitcoin as a means of transaction is the fact that the fees they will have to pay for it is cheap and also it takes just few minutes for you to send and receive it, unlike banks where you will have to wait for days before the money will arrive.

There is something about Russia I am yet to understand. They are already a big country with many natural resources and have another powerful country as ally (China), what is the reason of its imperialist in the XXI century?

Also, there are some theorical differences between Soviet socialism and Western socialism. They are people who even talk about "tropical socialism" in order to separate models from the old Soviet system.

Naturally, there is also a so-called XXI century socialist project conceived/supported by Hugo Chavez.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socialism_of_the_21st_century)



It is not just about a mean of exchange o transfer of value.

Bitcoin and other crypto-assets have properties that make us able to re-gain control of our money within authoritarian systems.
Here in Venezuela we do not have access to credits cards in (USD), using paypal can be difficult without a contact abroad who lends a card so we can use Bitcoin to buy on internet, it also help us to keep our money concealed and away from crooks.

It is of common knowledge here that military/employees always try to steal money and gold out of people escaping the country through airports even luggage (https://www.world-today-news.com/three-maiquetia-air-customs-employees-arrested-for-theft-of-merchandise/), Bitcoin also helps with that.

Not even mention the help against inflation and the fact many people can survive by learning to trade a bit or through odd jobs on internet paid in crypto.

So you can see, it helps.

this is one of the things that must be emphasized and realized by everyone, especially those who are here.
sometimes a lot of people especially beginners think btc is a shortcut to get rich but on the other hand thinking like this is a big mistake and it is not recommended to think like this.
crypto especially btc is a technology that is speculative and you can't see it in terms of profit only because if you take the wrong action, you may lose.
this is probably what everyone should apply

After I saw the title of the topic, I remember very well these two countries (Cuba and Venezuela), they were the richest and prosperous countries at that time, before both countries were poor as they are today, before the two countries were poor as they are today, Cuba was known for the classic luxury of living and Venezuela the world's largest oil resource.

Honestly, I feel sympathy for the two countries with the current conditions, I hope that in the future, especially from an economic point of view, the presence of Bitcoin there can change at least a few percentages for the people there to be better.

As you said above, with Bitcoin today being able to grow their current economic values, my hope is that Cuba and Venezuela can fully recover and live as usual when they were glorious.

Around cryptocurrencies, there is a situation with a bunch of beliefs, fantasies, fairy tales and myths. Many people think that as soon as you have a cryptocurrency - that's it, life is good, you are rich and independent, and this is forever! But the reality is completely different - from shit-coins to regulatory shakes that can negatively affect the course. And after such events, yesterday's happy owners of the crypt can turn into gray-haired young people with twitching eyes :) In a word - as a lifeline, not all crypts are well suited for this role, and even those that do have features, about which we must not forget

Great to hear that BTC is helping out these countries and hopefully other ones out there who are struggling economically. I can feel that they are slowly adopting and embracing cryptocurrencies and taking it one day at a time.

Even Venezuela’s largest airport is now accepting cryptocurrencies like BTC for booking plane tickets.

Yes cryptocurrencies could change their lives, as long they know the basics in doing their own research, proper risk management, etc.

that's why we must always think positive and take the good side. With their courage to make these decisions, they really deserve a better life
It can be said that it is an effective solution in going through difficult times

Russia pretends to be a great country. Greatness is not about size, it is about its significance, influence, strength, superiority. But this is all fake :) Russia is a huge, backward country, armed with technology of the 20th century, hungry and embittered at those who live the best of it. The fact that she has the resources does not make her either great or economically strong. In fact, this is a huge Venezuela or Cuba (no offense for the comparison). And the resources - so they mostly belong to a handful of thieves, and the country does not get anything from this.
Further - China is no friend. China is a very cunning "friend". China is a country that really needs Russia's resources - subsoil and land. And this expansion has already begun. Millions of hectares have been transferred to China on "special terms." Have you noticed how Russia began to give China its lands for nothing (as if for a long-term lease) after China did not recognize the annexation of Crimea as such? Russia is looking for at least some kind of support for its neo-Nazism, its terrorism must be supported by at least one large country ... China is perfect for this role. HERE are only plans for China more than just millions of hectares of the Russian taiga ...

Wait a minute, Neo-Nazism?


True, but I would not hand over a single satoshi to any government driven airline or organization. I'd rather pay them with the same bills they have insisted to keep printing till' total value dilution.

Any recommended resources to learn about pesonal risk management?

Ideally you should not be spending any of your Bitcoins now, since the outlook is extremely bullish for the medium to long term. In your case you have the option of paying with Venezuelan Bolivares as well. And it makes no sense to spend your BTC, when you have a worthless currency such as Bolivares with you. I am someone who still regrets spending most of my coins during 2014-19, when the exchange rates were very low. The tendency is to spend the asset which we have the most, but it is wrong.

Of course, I would like to keep my few satoshis as a long term, however, sometimes the social context becomes a problem.
In case I run out of my medicine, my parents need some medical attention or anything that means a big emergency expending, I will likely end up selling some. This is the kind of place where people try to live a normal live with no medical insurance, car insurance, home insurance and few savings, here we are the liquidity we have in our pockets.

At least, in USA people can acquire debt in order to get medical aid.
Here it is not strange to get shot and be told to wait in the waiting room till' one can paid somehow.

Because of the inflationary nature of the local currency, I have zero Bolivars to my name.

As an Argentinian, having lived in Miami for almost 13 years, I've had the opportunity to know literally thousands of both Cubans and Venezuelans, and in both cases they're very peculiar people.
I've had endless arguments with both, because I fail to understand how an entire country can be dominated by a handful of thugs, and people won't move a finger to change that.
That said, I think any help that can be sent to oppressed people is a good thing. Unfortunately, in my experience,  most of that help will end up in the hands of the oppressors, and the victims will see very little (if any) of it.

Either way, I think you have to earn your help. Cubans have been basically enslaved for half a century, Venezuelans for about 2 decades, and they basically do nothing to force a change in their situation. I got my hopes up in 2004, when Venezuelans started to show signs of rebellion against Chavez's abuses, and finally nothing happened. That's the big problem with Latin America as a whole: everybody talks, but nobody does anything. That's not a suitable way to solve any problem.

I'll tell you how. Likewise, in the Soviet Union, 250 million people were simply intimidated and brought to a bestial state, creating a system that was more terrible than the Nazi. Tens of millions of citizens were killed by their own state, by the hands of the citizens of this country. People were exterminated because they did not want to live in a totalitarian society, they wanted to live like people, they wanted to dress nicely and eat deliciously ... And someone was killed simply because they had grievances and power in their hands. The level of sadism that the Soviet Union spawned, multiplied by the number of people who tortured and killed their brothers, most likely puts the Soviet Union in the first place in the world for bastards and misanthropy. And the same CheGuevara, Castro and other "revolutionaries" of Latin America are followers of Soviet ideology, taught from the works and real deeds of Soviet murderers and executioners. And the same Cubans were instilled with a couple of basic rules - be glad that you are alive at all, the imperialists are all around, everyone envies you, everyone is even worse, close your mouth and enjoy!
By the way - think about why in all countries with a totalitarian government any information channels from the outside are necessarily prohibited - TV, radio, the Internet has just been added? Because it is impossible to threaten and lie if people find out that this is all a lie! Citizens of such countries should be informationally underdeveloped, and live with only one problem - where to eat? Where can I get some money? And at the level of genetics - to be afraid to think about a change of power ..

I can't wait to see Bitcoin be used in other countries around the world. As it continues to grow as a decentralized currency, I'm optimistic that other countries will want to adopt it into their economic systems as well.  8)

I guess you need USD for such emergency situations, as I am not sure whether Bolivars will be accepted everywhere. But I remember one of your earlier posts, in which you mentioned that there is a chance of confiscation from the part of the cops. Same is the case with gold coins. On top of confiscation, there is a risk of theft as well. Bitcoin is safer, as it can't be confiscated (if stored properly). That said, I am not sure how easy it is to convert BTC to USD, especially in emergency situations like hospital admissions.

Bolivars are still widely accepted as medium of exchange but using the price of the USD as reference for transactions.

Confiscations exist but are not common, would be easier to get stolen by a common criminal.
Fortunately, having Bolivars in one's bank account and spendind them with a debit card it is enough to avoid both scenarios.

BTC convertions to USD cash it is neither easy nor automatic, it would be better just to convert to Bolivars in one's bank account and spend them ASAP, depending on the platform the spread may be a problem, in my opinon Binance's P2P has fair enough rates.

After reading the topic up to this point, I realized that the original idea "bitcoin will save the economy" has turned into "bitcoin is hard to take away by an illegal method" !? Those. the main problem has crystallized - not the economic crisis, but the inability to save your money or other values! From the very beginning I did not understand and do not understand how bitcoin can save from an incorrectly constructed economic model, and not the smartest government?

Things had been really for Venezuelans before bitcoin came and even after bitcoin was accepted into the country.

If I'm not wrong then there's going to be a cryptocurrency with the GOLD reserve in IRAQ that will be used worldwide but has faced many oppositions by US

OK.. so the situation is not as bad as I thought. But even then, converting BTC to USD is a bit complicated. First you need to convert BTC to Bolivars (probably using a P2P platform and the bank account) and then again convert Bolivars to USD. All that said, P2P can be quite tricky. I have dealt with various platforms over the years and every now and then I get an issue with the potential buyer. And if this happens in Venezuela, then things can get further complicated since BTC is in the grey zone of legality. And relieved to hear that confiscations are not that common (especially with USD banknotes and gold coins).

That's correct.



Actually P2P it is something common and we have a big volume, besides P2P we also have automatic platforms which buy crypto (you dont need to interact with a person), however the spread on those platforms are not as favorable as P2P in Binance, for example.

Also, Bitcoin and other crypto-assets are legal here, so there are somewhat "clear" laws.



Right, one just need to be aware of the things one is not supposed to do.
For example, two weeks ago I needed to walk downtown to buy something (about 5,6 miles), I took with me my debit card and ID, no cellphone, no cash, no expensive shoes, etc.

The rule of thumb is not to carry anything of value on us when walking, just in case.

For me, the economic exit of particular economies to a better option is focused on the economic technology of BTC, as the issue is focused on socialism and communism, which for me is practically the same, even if many say no, I am living In a nation where Socialism is sold to you as the best option, they even compare it to Jesus Christ in his time, making people move emotions to accept such a movement, and when it is established, the road to communism is like peeling a Mandarin, that simple, that's how they disguise it, it will always tend to the same, and obviously the economic state and the quality of life are reduced to great levels, when BTC is handled it is something else, because you are no longer in a controlled system, but that you have financial freedom.