The Pomp Podcast
Eduardo Gómez: An on the Ground Perspective from Venezuela
- Venezuela's economic crisis has driven rapid Bitcoin adoption, with LocalBitcoin trading volume reaching 1,900 BTC per week (over $6–7 million daily) compared to 300–500 BTC previously.
- The Venezuelan government initially jailed Bitcoin operators, then seized mining equipment for officials' personal profit, and later banned imports of ASICs and GPUs to suppress cryptocurrency activity.
- El Petro, the government's "initial country offering" backed by oil reserves, is a non-functional centralized database with a fake block explorer, similar to OneCoin; minimum wage is pegged to it at less than $6 per month.
- Currency controls since 2004 prohibit citizens from legally purchasing foreign currency, forcing reliance on peer-to-peer platforms like LocalBitcoin for dollar access and cross-border remittances.
- Political upheaval: a rigged 2018 election prompted the opposition-controlled National Assembly to invoke Article 233 of the constitution, installing an interim president; military remains loyal to Maduro's narco-state regime.
- Bitcoin serves practical functions in Venezuela: remittance tool for 4 million diaspora, Amazon payment processor with 15% discount, business-to-business payment system circumventing daily $96 bank transfer limits.