Crypto fanatics have been asking for a long time, when will this technology reach mass adoption? However, for many years the situation wasn't ripe. Bitcoin wasn't user-friendly enough, it was hard for non-techy newbies to get involved, and they didn't have an incentive. That seems to be changing, with Dash helping merchants and users get involved, giving the people of Venezuela a new tool to improve their situation during a crisis. Watch the episode below.
Economic situation in Venezuela
Venezuela has a lot of problems right now, many of them caused by too much control exerted by the state, one key problem being hyperinflation. I've seen the inflation of the Bolívar reported variously as 2500% pa, 6000%, even 1,000,000% per year. When I first started following the Bolívar, it was around 20 Bs to the dollar. When the Bolívar Fuerte was revalued and replaced, the exchange rate was 800,000 Bs to the dollar. The highest denomination was the 100 Bs, so people had to carry bales of cash.
Another piece in this puzzle is the fact that the Venezuelan government came up with their own cryptocurrency, the Petro - supposedly backed by Venezuelan petroleum - and ran propaganda campaigns all over the country promoting it. That means that millions of people all over the country now have exposure to the idea, and so they're willing to hear more.
Enter Dash
Then we have Dash, a crypto project with a focus on user experience and a large treasury which can be used to fund any project the community decides will increase the value of the network. Over the last year, with cryptocurrency getting more popular, certain prominent coins saw their fees and transaction times increase. However, Dash fees got lower and transaction speeds remained around 3 seconds, fast enough for consumer use - and the Dash core team has a plan to continue scaling, retaining those key elements of useability.
In Venezuela, the Dash treasury funded a call centre to help people set up wallets, monthly conferences in Caracas, among other projects to get the word out, and it worked. Discover Dash lists over 1000 retailers in Venezuela - restaurants, real estate agents, accountants, and it seems there are many more small retailers which aren't listed, food trucks and stalls in Caracas and Maracay.
Obviously there are still challenges ahead, such as smartphone penetration, and funding problems. The monthly conferences were funded when Dash was $800, now closer to $200, so they have a lot less funding. But it seems Dash and crypto are becoming a part of Venezuelan culture. Caracas may already be the crypto capital of the world.
Thank you
Thank you so much for listening to Cryptonomics, and thank you for sharing this with your friends. I'll be making more pieces on this subject, but if you want more info in the meantime I recommend Rodrigo Ambrissa's 30 minute documentary Venezuela and the Cryptocurrency Revolution, Eric Sammon's article The Cryptocurrency Dream, Revived, and my piece from 2017 about How Dash may achieve mass adoption before Bitcoin.
Stay grateful!
The Episode
You can listen to the episode on Anchor and other podcasting services here: Cryptonomics - Dash saves Venezuela from Collapse?. Or watch on YouTube below:
The whole situation when it started going south was such a mess in general. How can any part of a country function when it currency and economy doesn't have any value.
It does however make an interesting case study for the usability of crypto in the general world. Not taking away from how hard it must be to live through a crises like this but we can see dash being properly road tested and see it being used as an alternative for a fiat economy. If it can gain mass adoption in the country and outside Venezuela as a result then who knows what could snowball from that.
These are all beginnings to mass adoption of crypo for general use which is the push that they all need. One of the main problems with most blockchains is the lack of working product. This is a fine example of it being a feasible alternative to an existing structure. Hopefully it works out for the people who need it.
Thanks for your detailed comment; I think it's the best one I've got since I started the channel.
Yes, I always bring up Steem as an example of a blockchain project which has real-world use, and now it looks like Dash is also stepping into that area. I want to talk to some more Venezuelans about it, to see how they think about it… especially about the volatility of crypto compared to the hyperinflation of the bolívar. One fellow I asked said that, even if the economy recovered, Dash wouldn't disappear. It's too much a part of how they do things now. So the roots are planted.
Take care, be well
No worries. I find it an interesting subject to be honest. Not only that i'm involved in the engagement and curation league which means that not only do i read a lot of the articles on steemit but need to give good and detailed comments to hold my position. Before that i used to just read and vote but rarely comment.
Any big crypto project like this is going to hold my attention as i think that we are invested to some degree or another and want to see it doing well.
Hopefully what we see now is a few more of the blockchains coming in the real use category to give them value rather than just potential.
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I am Venezuelan. We are secuestred by military and rotten politicians. They are sucking al resources how bugs sucks the blood of organism. All is in the floor: health, education, food, infraestructure, and more things. Criptocurrencies are a salvation for Venezuela and world. Thank you for your support.
Thanks Jorge. Do you use Dash, or cryptocurrencies other than Steemit?
Yes brother, Im using bitcoin, ADA (Cardano) and Tron
Which ones do you see people using the most, and how are they using them?
i dont think it can help much. the government is not functional, supplies chain not flowing in to the country, ppl have no food, no basic supplies. Even you dump hundred billion dollars to country is worthless to them.
You said if you dumped a hundred billion dollars, it would be worthless to them. But that's not what I'm talking about here... I'm talking about a technology which gives them a tool to address one key part of their economic crisis.
That is what the gov't is doing--dumping a bunch of currency into the country--but it's wrecking the economy. Dash is bringing real wealth into the country, and giving people a way to preserve their wealth by exiting the fiat scam.
That can only help the people of Venezuela.
they still more than crypto currency to save their country, they need supplies in order for the country to function. the basic necessity need to be fulfill before everything else.
That's true, but it seems like you're assuming getting their basic necessities are somehow completely separate from having a functioning currency. If you improve trade, you also improve access to basic necessities. A lot of people are smuggling in goods from the Colombian border and having a currency which is valuable outside Venezuela only aids that.
@cryptonomics1, I'm waiting for the continuation of the topic
interesting, are there hard economic data/facts to collaborate this?
Which parts?
how has it saved venezuela....well so far anyways?
hey i'm all for the value of dash in real world use case (or for most crypto for that matter), i'm just trying to figure out how much data collaborates the wide statement being made
I'm afraid your question is very vague. I presented some data in the video about the listings on Discover Dash. If that doesn't answer your question, I don't really know what kind of data you're expecting. It's not like we can analyse the blockchain directly and say there are x commercial transactions in Venezuela, or that it has saved y people $z from the devaluation of the bolívar. It's not that simple; we're talking about an emerging market (crypto) being used within an emerging market (Venezuela) during a chaotic period.
If you expect that things are going to be clear-cut, black and white in a situation like that, it's just not going to happen.
Besides, I didn't claim that Dash has saved Venezuela. I merely asked the question.
true...it's just implied that way it was worded,
btw. did you manage to research any further besides the video? thanks for the share....it's inspiration (probably should have started on this tone :D )
i do hope saving a national economy becomes a great use case for dash....along with other crypto including Steem of course ;)
Thanks man, much appreciated.
Yes, it is kind of implied, but I don't know if Dash has started to save Venezuela, is saving it, will save it in the future, or none of the above. Time will tell, but people are benefiting.
Yes, I've researched it quite a lot and I hope to present more of my research in future videos.
Take care
that is excellent news! looking forward for sure @cryptonomics1 will also spread the word and share this post in various community!
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