Hola, awesome Read.cashers! A new week has already begun. And I wish all of us a wonderful and productive week!
Last week I had some failed attempts trying to do the bridge between Coinflex and Metamask. But a couple of days ago, thanks to the information I got in Read.cash and to the use of some green paths because of being where I am. I took my first steps into SmartBCH. And I can happily say I already have some staked EBEN tokens in the Benswap pool.
I won't write the details of how I achieved it. Rather I will tell you which are the articles of other users that were very useful to me.
How to set up smartBCH Network on Metamask and smartBCH - CoinFlex Bri... by @carisdaneym2.
Diving Into The Sphere Of SmartBCH (Trying The BenSwap Pool) by @Jane.
At the moment of writing this, the EBEN token already tripled in value of my purchase price. So let's hope it continues to rise in the coming days.
Some thoughts about financial topics in my country
Yesterday, I read an article by @Porwest. What Is $100 Worth? In his article, he talked about how much that amount of money means depending on where you are. His article was motivated by a publication of @rebeysa85 in which she told about her decision to quit her job. She is Venezuelan as I am. Her salary on that job was $ 16 per month. So she decided to quit and dedicate herself to write full-time on blogging platforms.
I've already mentioned in other posts we have been living in hyperinflation for 4 years. In 2019, the government was forced to release the price controls that were suffocating the economy and had generated a shortage in basic goods. Also in the last two years, the exchange control we'd had since 2003 has been released. Now the US dollar circulates freely, and prices have been adjusted.
But wages have not been adjusted. Most people continue to earn miserable wages. The situation of rebysa85 is one that millions of Venezuelans live every day who earn ridiculous salaries. Therefore, it's not a casualty that hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans flood the internet searching for ways to generate income.
The minimum wage in Venezuela is less than 2 dollars per month (7.000.000 Bs). And that is what, for example, my mother receives every month as an old-age pension.
In Venezuela, what can you buy with 100 dollars?
The worth of 100 dollars in Venezuela for purchasing food isn't very different from what you can buy in the United States, to have a reference. I live in a middle class neighborhood. And I usually do my shopping in a supermarket.
Here 1 kilo of meat costs between $ 4 and $ 5, a liter of milk $ 1.25, sliced bread $ 3, 1 kilo of fish between $ 9 and $18, the cheapest rice $1 per kilo. To buy for a family of 4 for a week, including cleaning and personal care items, you easily spend those 100 dollars.
And If we talk about food you eat out, to make a reference that most can understand. Here a Big Mac costs a little more than $8. Recently the BBC published an article which said that the most expensive Big Mac in the world, you get it in Venezuela.
So as you will see, here most people cannot live on their salary.
The unreal sense of economic improvement
But for some, there is a false sense the country is improving. In recent days, one of the most famous Latin American YouTubers named Luisito Comunica visited Venezuela. His first impression is that the country is improving. And of course, it couldn't be otherwise since his last visit to the country had been in 2017.
In that year, hyperinflation began. There was a shortage of basic goods due to price controls. And a black market for these products surged. Street vendors sold the products at prices double or triple. Many people became Bachaquero. This was the name used to call the sellers on the black market.
Supermarkets at that time had many empty shelves. And then the government couldn't think of anything better than to pass a law that prohibited empty shelves. So supermarkets used to fill entire aisles with the same product. When this YouTuber visited in 2017, one of his most viral videos was a visit to a supermarket.
So of course for him, many things have improved. At least Caracas now is full of stores we call Bodegones, full of imported products. But unfortunately, these shops remain inaccessible to most of the population who live with starvation wages.
And just a little sector of the population that has managed to break through the face of adversity can consume the new offers in the economy. Most people live a very different reality.
What can BCH become in Venezuela?
So having said all this. It's not strange that if you look at the rank in Alexa of Noise.cash. You will find that 46% of the users who enter the platform in the last 30 days, do so from Venezuela. Every penny people earn here and in Noise can probably change many lives. But for some Venezuelans, it can be a means of survival. So imagine if the users that today use Noise.cash from Venezuela could pay with BCH.
Most of these users don't hold their BCH. What they earn in Noise is to cover their daily expenses. If at least half of them could pay with BCH instead of exchanging them to get fiat currency. It could mean a big step towards the adoption of BCH in Venezuela.
Of course, for this to happen, the number of merchants that accept BCH today has to be increased. And have more merchants in other parts of the country, since today most of them that accept BCH are in Caracas according to Bitcoin.com maps. But it's obvious that Venezuela is fertile ground for the adoption of cryptocurrencies, and the BCH has a great opportunity here. As we would say, here the table is already served. Let see if those who are working for adoption take this huge opportunity.
To all my dear readers, thank you so much!
These are all my wonderful sponsors! I encourage you to visit their amazing articles if you haven't done so.
And a special thank you today to @Momentswithmatti, my most recent sponsor. I do really appreciate this:)
All images and writings are my own unless anything different is stated.
© CoquiCoin
Let's go for a #BetterSeptember
Until next time! ;)
September 6, 2021
Un articulo muy interesante gracias por dar un ejemplo de lo que estamos viviendo en Venezuela. Yo no se nada de economía pero he escuchado y leído mucho que la adopción de las criptomonedas en los comercios es beneficioso para quien las tiene porque puede pagar los productos y servicios con ellas, entonces me quedo pensando será que le precio es mas bajo cuando se cancela en cripto o será el mismo valor en dólar a base la criptomoneda, no se si me explique pero pienso que será los mismo con otro nombre.
Vamos a terminar pagando el mismo precio del producto en dólares o en criptomonedas.