Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Venezuelans Rush to Bitcoin to Escape Falling Economy, Worsening Lives


Sat 16 Feb 2019 | 02:20 PM
Yassmine Elsayed

By: Yassmine ElSayed

CAIRO, Feb. 16 (SEE) - The amount of bitcoin traded in crisis-stricken Venezuela has exploded to reach an all-time high, media reports said.

According to CNBC, the dramatic spike in weekly bitcoin trading volumes appears to show residents in Venezuela are opting to hold the world's most popular cryptocurrency instead of their own national currency ”Petro” as a store of value.

Peer-to-peer trading volumes for Bitcoin have risen sharply in recent weeks, with the bolivar currency rendered practically worthless amid soaring hyperinflation. President Nicolas Maduro has presided over Venezuela's spiral into its worst-ever economic crisis, with hyperinflation forecast to reach 10 million percent this year.

As a result, some 3 million Venezuelans have fled abroad over the past five years to escape worsening living conditions.

the amount of Bitcoin traded in the oil-rich, but cash-poor, country has soared last week by 30 percent to 2,454 bitcoins, equivalent to approximately $8.95 million per week and $1.29 million per day. Bitcoin is currently trading at $3,553,, according to crypto data tracker Coin Dance.

The rising interest for bitcoin and other digital assets in Venezuela has been driven, in large part, by the fast-moving political and economic collapse in the South American country.

In early 2018, Maduro sought to bring an end to a prolonged period of economic turmoil by introducing the so-called petro cryptocurrency.

The petro was designed to help Venezuela's government keep up with international financial obligations at a time when the country's collapsing economy was hit by sanctions from the U.S. and European Union.

Critics have since widely discredited the move, calling the currency a "scam."