Venezuela buys up Bitcoins at the height of political and economic crisis
- The struggling country turns to Bitcoins, according to CoinDance stats.
- The opposition leader and the self-proclaimed president supports Bitcoin.
Ruined by the political and economic crisis, Venezuela has found a resort in cryptocurrencies. The country has long been a leader by daily trading volumes on P2P platform LocalBitcoins that works like an advertisement board and allows people to exchange cryptocurrencies for fiat money and visa verse.
According to CoinDance statistics, during the previous week, Venezuelans exchanged nearly 17.1 billion Bolivars to Bitcoins. It Bitcoin terms it is 1927 BTC.
Meanwhile, the authorities of the country issued a Constitutional order on the integral system of cryptocurrency assets. It is aimed at regulating the activity of Bitcoin exchanges and other crypto-related companies.
According to the document, those who use, issue or mine Petro or other digital assets without the permission of the supervisory body will be subject to a fine in the amount of up to $18 000.
However, experts believe, that this order will not affect the trading volumes of LocalBitcoins and other P2P services. The country is pivoting towards digital money because of the dire economic situation, aggravated by sanctions and hyperinflation.
Earlier it has become known that the president of the National Assembly and the self-proclaimed president of Venezuela Juan Guaidó is a vocal critic of Petro and an ardent supporter of Bitcoin.
The cryptocurrency community pliers that he might legalize Bitcoin once he comes to power.
Author
Tanya Abrosimova
Independent Analyst
