Venezuela, currencies and technology...

January, 29, 2022. | No. 33

This is a small summary for informational purposes about the use of crypto assets, payment methods and technology in my country Venezuela.

The currency used is the Bolivar, it is the legal tender here. This has lost a lot of value over the years and the socio-economic situation affecting the country, the inflation that consumes us, blockades, and the bad management of the national government. However, the physical dollar, as a means of payment, has helped the population a lot. People prefer to save in this currency because it does not devalue, and the private sector pays in this currency, which makes existence here a little easier.

We also have a cryptocurrency called Petro, which is somewhat limiting, it cannot be mined, nor can you get it with a bot or a page where you can earn it. You must buy it on exchanges for it, its cost is very high, it is backed by the riches of the country such as gold and oil that Venezuela produces. But, you can not get it easily, so citizens ignore its existence. Its use is mostly for government purposes, to pay taxes, tariffs, and that sort of thing. It is mostly used in the public sector.

It could be said that Venezuela is a bit behind in technology, technology is a bit late here. However, we young people are doing our best to stay on the cutting edge, which is important nowadays, especially to get ahead.

The cost of technological devices is high, like absolutely everything, food, clothes, shoes... So when making payments with crypto assets can be difficult if you do not have a smartphone.

How do citizens survive all this? Reinventing themselves, a person can have 3 jobs, to be able to sustain themselves, of which it could be said that there are between 40% or 50% that work through the Internet. Why? Because the earnings are more decent than in a formal job.

In my case, I am a freelancer, besides that I earn some cryptos and invest a little in dubbing machines, thanks to God and my work I can support myself a little. 

But, working on the internet is not as easy as it looks. It requires ingenuity, creativity and the search for information. Besides that, the internet connection in Venezuela is not good. The national operator is CANTV, most Venezuelans use this operator to get internet service because of its low cost. It is more accessible, but its service is decadent.

CEPAL determined that the internet in Venezuela is the worst in the world.

CANTV's internet comes through a telephone cable, so the connection is terrible. There are also other private internet connections of good quality, but their cost is high, approximately 20$ per month, the minimum wage is 4$ according to what is officially established.

There is no investment, there is no investment in improving or solving the country's problems, only hot water is applied to everything that affects us. We have everything to be a powerful country, resources, agreements with powerful countries, and the will to work. But, this is not used, but for the own benefit of a privileged group: negligent politicians.

The digital bolivar...

At the end of 2021 the advertisements on TV started, about the digital bolivar, the strength of the digital bolivar, and blah blah blah. I did not understand what the fuck the digital bolivar was, because the transactions here are digital and also in cash. So the digital bolivar already exists. What happened was that they changed the name of the currency, again, and removed 6 zeros. In order to facilitate transactions, and so that they were not millions of millions.

This is flawed. It affects other important procedures. I study administration, and some time ago I worked in an office, so I realized how much the government inventions affect the employees. Taking zeros off the currency reduces a person's settlement gain when they resign or are fired, or when they retire. So, when this happens, the money from all your years of work is nothing, it's a mockery.

I worked 3 years in an office, when I was fired, the money I received was equivalent to 5$. 5$ my 3 years of work! Indignation, that's what I felt.

It is one of the reasons why I do not support the current government, their way of proceeding is negligent, and irrational.

Just one name. That is the digital bolivar. The idea is to encourage the use of the digital bolivar, something that is already used every day, we Venezuelans have known how to make transfers and mobile payments in bolivars, for a long time. It is as if the national government only now realized that these types of payments exist and wanted to show how to use them or that they exist. And we already know, it is not a secret for anyone to make digital transactions.

What they really want is to solve the real problems of the country. Use the rallies to raise awareness of the businesses that bleed the citizens.

The physical dollar is handled as a means of payment, but there are no ATMs where you can go and withdraw physical dollars, because it is not a legal tender here. Saving digital dollars in the Banco de Venezuela is a task that very few people risk, nobody wants to do it, nobody trusts the system. The system is corrupt, that's why nobody wants to do it. I can deposit and send 1$ to my BCH wallet, but I cannot do the same at the Central Bank, I cannot dispose of my money freely. I have to go to the bank in person, deposit dollars in cash, to have them in my account digitally. When in reality it is easier for many people to have them in physical form, it is faster to use them, than to go to the bank to deposit them. It doesn't make sense.

New things are implemented in the country, but some of them do not make sense, and those that do make sense are not given the incentive to be used.

Stores don't have change to give you when you make purchases in dollars in cash. They also charge extra fees for crypto payments. They do not use the established rate, but a higher one. All with the excuse "the dollar can go up". Inflation is not the only problem that plagues us, but also greed. It is the worst evil, and the one that does not allow us to move forward as a nation.

That is why some of us prefer to pay in the national currency, to avoid the commissions of the stores. But that national currency often comes from cryptos or electronic currencies that are exchanged to bolivars by external means.

We have a body that "regulates" everything, Superintendencia de las Instituciones del Sector Bancario de Venezuela (SUDEBAN), but currently its solution to the currency crisis is to encourage the use of mobile payment. They do not regulate the commissions they charge for buying with cryptos, digital or cash currencies. The amount is not regulated, since many times you have to consume a certain amount compulsorily, as it happens in some cafes. Price control is not carried out either.

We have a socialist, centralized and limiting government. That is the source of the problem.

There are many failures on the part of the national government. There are many inconsistencies. So the citizens themselves have been concerned about getting ahead by ignoring what is or is not established. The dollar is used in cash, currently there are businesses that accept Paypal and Metamask as a payment method. Very slowly we citizens are looking for a way to emerge, and little by little, without realizing it, we are helping our country to get out of all this.

The news of @Pantera and the use of BCH in Venezuela seems great to me, DASH is already used through DASH TEXT, which means that little by little payment methods with different cryptos will be implemented in the country. Another ray of hope for the country's economy, and a respite for its citizens.

Venezuela has shown a slight growth in its economy, this is thanks to the efforts of the Venezuelan people and a little to the national government. Above all to that citizen who goes out every day to work, to every young person who goes out to study, to every person who decides to invest in his future and without realizing it, helps his nation. Now you can see that some of them have their own business, with their own business, and they also collaborate with the country's economy.

So if Venezuela changes, it will be because of us. That is why we must not give up. We have to keep working, keep studying, and be better every day.

❤️I bid you farewell, with love and a big hug.Thanks for reading!❤️

@zulfrontado

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