Payment systems in Venezuela are taking up cryptocurrency payments as the Venezuelan bolivar soberano faces hyperinflation. Dash (DASH) and Bitcoin (BTC) rank as the top cryptocurrencies being used in the country as a store of wealth and to pay for their daily services. In this article, we focus on the use and effects of Digital Cash (DASH) in the country and the challenges and benefits it faces.
Dash logo
Outline
- The Failure of the Venezuelan Economy
- Petro’s influence in Venezuela
- Dash (DASH): The power of cryptocurrency in Venezuela
- Venezuelan citizens and Dash (DASH)
- Is Dash popular in Venezuela?
- Final Comments
The Failure of the Venezuelan Economy
According to a recent United Nations report, over 17% of Venezuelans have fled the country following the massive economic turmoil the country has faced for the past few years. The country’s national currency, the Venezuelan bolivar is practically useless albeit lighting fires and dirtying the streets of Venezuela. The World Bank estimates the country’s inflation rate will reach 10 million percent in 2019 further showing the strain on the citizens in the country.
The huge amounts of physical bolivars you need to pay for goods and services mean citizens cannot physically store it and the central bank cannot meet the demand. Moreover, the digital transactions in the country such as the use of credit and debit cards are restricted by central banking authorities in this time of hyperinflation.
Venezuelan bolivars on the street
The problem of inflation is further compounded by the financial constraints, foreign sanctions and the migration of over 3 million Venezuelans to neighboring Colombia. The dire situation currently being faced is causing rapid adoption and use of US Dollars (USD), Bitcoin (BTC) and Dash (DASH) in the country.
The latest move by President Nicolas Maduro’s government to introduce a national cryptocurrency, Petro (PTR) also shows the desperate state of the country’s economy.
Petro’s influence in Venezuela
Petro, portmanteau of petromoneda, is a national cryptocurrency developed by the government and backed by Venezuelan oil deposits, gold, and diamonds. The cryptocurrency is seen as a measure to control the hyperinflation in the country as well as offering a payment option for the citizens. However, the government has only given the PTR holders certificates as the development of the cryptocurrency is yet to be complete. With the government pumping so much towards the cryptocurrency, Dash may face a challenge in the coming future once the tokens are released.
At the moment, Dash is on a high road making the payment systems in Venezuela more convenient and efficient. The Dash Core Group, the core development team of the Dash project, are forming partnerships with various merchants and stores across the country making the process of spending and purchasing Dash cryptocurrency a lot easier.
Dash (DASH): The power of cryptocurrency in Venezuela
Dash is a private digital currency designed to help consumers make payments for purchases made online or in-store anywhere in the world. Dash coins are stored in a Dash wallet from which all transactions in the coin can be initiated. Payment confirmations are done in less than three seconds while cryptographic security is guaranteed through a payment verification process that makes use of the mining power.
The adoption of the cryptocurrency in Venezuela is growing as merchants and other points of sale (POS) continue to accept cryptocurrency payments. Below are some of the large partnerships Dash Core Group is making to ensure ease of payments and efficient purchase of the cryptocurrency.
Venezuelan citizens and Dash (DASH)
One of the largest partnerships in the Dash cryptocurrency ecosystem is with Cryptobuyer, South America’s largest cryptocurrency broker. The partnership between the two companies is set to strengthen the payment channels using Dash and offer users in the region financial freedom through a decentralized cryptocurrency. Cryptobuyer is currently setting up Dash payment systems in Venezuelan retailer, Traki.
Likewise, the cryptocurrency giant has also partnered with Payza. Payza is one of the largest payment system in South America and accepts over 25 currencies for payments. The latest partnership is Chicken Church, a popular restaurant with stores across the country. More partnerships, ATMs, businesses and retail stores accepting Dash can be accessed on the Discover Dash website.
Is Dash popular in Venezuela?
While Dash makes a claim for being one of the widely spread tokens in the country, Bitcoin still takes the number one spot as the most used cryptocurrency. The growth of popularity of Dash in the country is heightened by the ease of payments the currency offers as compared to the pioneer cryptocurrency. However rapid the adoption rate of Dash may be, BTC is still the go-to crypto according to volumes posted on Coin Dance, a Bitcoin statistics website.
Weekly volumes of BTC exchanged on Localbitcoins (Image: Coindance)
According to one of the popular cryptocurrency experts in the country, Eduardo Gomez, alias Codiox, Dash is not at all popular in the country. He compared the use of Dash in the country to snake oil.
“Snake oil. Nobody uses it for payments down here.”
Final Comments
With the adoption rates of Dash growing moderately in Venezuela in the past few weeks, more will need to be done to avoid Bitcoin overpowering the cryptocurrency when it comes to payments. Dash is currently trading at $121.60 USD representing a 53% growth in price since the start of the year. The coin is ranked 14th on Coinmarketcap listings with a total market capitalization of $1,064,226,035 USD.
