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A huge number of Venezuelans have begun to purchase Bitcoin in large quantites, to avert impending consequences of an inflation, migration and capital restrictions.
These large Bitcoin transactions, which are upward of $6.12 million on LocalBitcoins trading platform, are a result of the existing political turmoil between incumbent president Nicolas Maduro, and newly announced president Juan Guaidó.
Venezuelan Political Landscape
Guaido, who just announced his presidency, has had to face opposition to his authority from the judiciary and the existing government at large. He has also faced opposition from the international community who are allies to the existing government.
Justice Maikel Moreno of the Supreme Tribunal, just ordered that Guaido be investigated, and his accounts frozen. In response to this announcement, commentators have stated that Guaidó is likely not be disconcerted by this news, as he has always been a proponent of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency.
The financial news platform Keiser, further alludes to his Bitcoin holdings, by referring to Guaido as a member of the millennium generation, and could easily posses all his liquid assets on his mobile device in a short amount of time, conclusively “unconfiscatable”.
In addition, a UK foreign office minister also suggested that access to venezuelan gold reserves be handed to Guaidó rather than Maduro.
Venezuela and The Crypto Space
After the Bank of England denied Maduro access to the gold reserves valued at £1.2 bilion, this inspired a “Not your keys, not your Bitcoin” social media trend.
It is also note worthy that in February of 2018, Maduro announced a second gold backed cryptocurrency called “petro Gold”, in addition to Petro, which are both state sponsored cryptocurrencies. This plan has obviously fallen through, as it can only be truly be backed by assets that the country has access to, unfortunately the gold stays locked up on foreign soil.
In hindsight, Bitcoin would have been the ideal currency for Maduro, in terms of accessibility and liquidity. Its political neutrality would have ensured an exemption from the states restricted gold reserves. It is simply apparent that trusting a secure password, is a lot easier than securing the trust of a foreign government.
Keiser also notes that passing Bitcoin as a legal currency by countries such as Venezuela, will greatly improve the imperialism of the US dollar.
Venezuelan Bitcoin Adoption
Venezuelans are increasingly adopting Bitcoin, in a bid to avoid the instability of the Sovereign Bolivar (VES). Last week, LocalBItcoins recorded a staggering VES to Bitcoin exchange of over 1780 BTC which is an equivalent of $6.12 million, which is the highest recorded trading volume till date.
The Venezuelan government seems unfazed by these trades, even as more Bitcoin infrastructure investments are headed their way, one of such is by a cryptobuyer in panama set to launch Caracas’ pioneer Bitcoin ATM in a few weeks.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.