This is how 0.037 Bitcoins looks like in Venezuela

[mindrust]

What the hell? The papers own value is more than those money's value probably. Venezuela's economy is pretty f**ked up nowadays i guess.

[maxxbrodd]

They use USD in the black markets. I doubt they'll start switching en masse to BTC because they need the money to buy living supplies, but I can definitely see the middle/upper classes diversifying.

[funkenstein]

Inflation is real, or should we say - hyperinflation. No wonder South American countries are starting to worry about cryptos to the point they are banning bitcoin.
Bolivia and Ecuador already banned it. And soon it will be more problematic for you to own bitcoin there that to have 1 kilogram of cocaine, crazy.

Also, seeing as every word or number can also be used as a bitcoin address, you will not be allowed to speak or write.  

[faridkifly]

wow thats good
bitcoin is good for country like venezuela.. in my country 0.037 isn't so worthed..

[Andy4.4]

Hmmm. Today I lost the double amount in gambling.
A friend of mine told that he have made a good return over investment on that site but when I deposited on that site and played, first it was good then I started playing big and lost all of it.

[eternalgloom]

Wow, I think I'd have to move to Venezuela and just do signature campaigns instead of actually working
It's pretty cool to see what Bitcoin could do for people in developing countries.

[Mickeyb]

Yes, hyperinflation is a bi**h! Some of my friends are from Serbia and they were talking to me about and showing me the money from Serbia in 1993 when during the civil war a hyperinflation happened there. Those are some horror stories! I have seen bills with 30 zeros. They were telling me that by the time you get your salary and if you don't spend it the same day, the next day it was literally worthless. Government was printing new bills with more and more zeros daily. This is a sad situation for any country in the world.

[SebastianJu]

holy crap.

Then yes, thats one of the few countries will prosper from bitcoin esp. It might even bring business based on them having enough capital to start their own business.

I didnt know it effected by that much though, a half months salary is what I make every week then..

How should a country be able to switch to use bitcoin as national currency? The government would have to buy huge amounts of bitcoins to be able to act and doing something. No country on the earth could afford that.

So i don't know how this could be done.

[ANdr0id]

Inflation is real, or should we say - hyperinflation. No wonder South American countries are starting to worry about cryptos to the point they are banning bitcoin.
Bolivia and Ecuador already banned it. And soon it will be more problematic for you to own bitcoin there that to have 1 kilogram of cocaine, crazy.

Yes they worry more about bitcoin than drugs being sold. If drug dealers start accepting bitcoin then what south American government? Mass hysteria

[Erdogan]

This is on venezuala central bank needing to print more notes. You will have to google translate it if you do not read spanish:

http://www.eluniversal.com/economia/150814/bcv-busca-papel-moneda-ante-falta-de-billetes-de-50-y-100-bolivares


"For this demanding 100 bills paid up to 140 bolivars low denomination" ... it looks like there is a disconnect between notes of different denominations. I suppose there is a disconnect between notes and debit cards already.

[OROBTC]

...

GREECE (more accurately: Greek entrepreneurs) may be pointing the way to show how people can cope with an unstable and/or dictatorial monetary system with capital controls:

http://techcrunch.com/2015/08/14/bitcoin-provider-cubits-aims-to-help-greeks-move-their-money/?ncid=rss

The most interesting thing about the article (for me) is how they may use BTC to pay for imports from external suppliers.

Venezuela has an additional complication though: tighter controls on imports and exports.  Still, Venezuelans (there and in Miami) could probably set something similar up rather easily...

[Erdogan]

I asked a colleague of mine from Venezuela. How is it back home, are the old folks safe? He did not say yes. On the problem of sending money (I don't know the economic situation of his parents, but with borderline hyperinflation a salary can become worthless quickly), he told me he could send money via the bank, it would take a week, there was danger of being robbed (that is what he said, maybe some clerk just confiscating the money for himself), and he would not get the full blue rate (I think he gets the Simadi rate, which is about 1/4 of what he should have got).

I introduced him to localbitcoins, he got an account loaded with some coins. He has a bank account inside the country accessible over the internet, and there are lots of traders in the country, giving a rate slightly worse than the blue rate. After that, he can transfer the bolivars to his relatives' account. After a few days I asked, but he hadn't tried it. He will wait until the a need arises, to avoid some of the inflation. I look forward to hearing of his experience. Anyway I could not wait to write this...

 

[AtheistAKASaneBrain]

I wonder how many trucks and buildings you would need to fill with those stupid paper bills with if you wanted to see how much satoshi nakamoto's wallet was on venezuela's currency.

[bryant.coleman]

The government needs to stop wasting the petroleum resources by subsidizing gasoline. Gasoline in Venezuela costs just $0.018 per liter ($1 for 60 liters), while in the United Kingdom, the same costs around $1.80 per liter. Insanely low prices fuels gasoline smuggling (mostly to the neighboring Colombia) and the government should take steps to stop this.

[coinableS]

Does anybody know how people go out and buy things with inflation like this? Serious question, do they bring a backpack stuffed full of cash instead of a wallet when they go shopping? Clearly a wallet would not be large enough to fit enough notes to buy anything. Or do they just deposit it all at a bank and use debit cards?

[OROBTC]

...

coinableS

One modern response to hyperinflation has been to go out and buy cars, as they hold their value better than the currency.

If their government will print larger denominations, then the bulk of cash needed is reduced.  The last hyperinflation I saw in Peru had a bank note of 5,000,000 intis worth some $3.00 at that time (late 1980s IIRC).  As hyperinflation continued, they went back to the sol ("New Sol"), their currency has been stable since.

[coinableS]

...

coinableS

One modern response to hyperinflation has been to go out and buy cars, as they hold their value better than the currency.

If their government will print larger denominations, then the bulk of cash needed is reduced.  The last hyperinflation I saw in Peru had a bank note of 5,000,000 intis worth some $3.00 at that time (late 1980s IIRC).  As hyperinflation continued, they went back to the sol ("New Sol"), their currency has been stable since.

Ahh okay thanks. So like the Trillion dollar bill in Zimbabwe, Venezuela has larger denomination bills? I guess by the photo provided I thought they didn't have larger bills available.

[bryant.coleman]

Ahh okay thanks. So like the Trillion dollar bill in Zimbabwe, Venezuela has larger denomination bills? I guess by the photo provided I thought they didn't have larger bills available.

Right now, 100 Bolivar is the largest denomination currency available. Even before the current crisis, there were requests from the public and the businesses for a higher denomination bank note. The official exchange rate is 1 USD to 6.3 VEF (black market rate as of July 2015 was 1 USD = 620 VEF). So even before the crisis, the highest denomination bank not was worth just around $16.

Right now, the highest denomination bank not is worth some $0.16

[OROBTC]

...

coinableS

One modern response to hyperinflation has been to go out and buy cars, as they hold their value better than the currency.

If their government will print larger denominations, then the bulk of cash needed is reduced.  The last hyperinflation I saw in Peru had a bank note of 5,000,000 intis worth some $3.00 at that time (late 1980s IIRC).  As hyperinflation continued, they went back to the sol ("New Sol"), their currency has been stable since.

Ahh okay thanks. So like the Trillion dollar bill in Zimbabwe, Venezuela has larger denomination bills? I guess by the photo provided I thought they didn't have larger bills available.

I don't know re Venezuela and larger bank note denominations.

That is a political decision!  Just printing up larger and larger denominations is a clear admission of failure.  But, if they do NOT print larger "value" [sic / LOL] notes, then just living becomes much harder, the people might revolt sooner...

As I mentioned (pages back), Venezuela is in real trouble.  With huge oil reserves and 300 + tonnes of gold (an unusually large amount for a developing country), .gov Venezuela has screwed up very badly.

And they were in talks with Goldman-Sachs to figure out how to lease their gold for a cash (dollars) transfusion, I do not know the latest on that news item.  If Venezuela defaults on paying Goldman back..., then they can kiss their gold good-bye.

[Erdogan]

Does anybody know how people go out and buy things with inflation like this? Serious question, do they bring a backpack stuffed full of cash instead of a wallet when they go shopping? Clearly a wallet would not be large enough to fit enough notes to buy anything. Or do they just deposit it all at a bank and use debit cards?

Debit cards still work.