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The Importance of Cryto/Blockchain Income for Venezuelans

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@hlezama
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With the current economic debacle Venezuela is facing, to talk about minimum wage is like talking about a theoretical construct. Venezuela has always been last in the alphabetical list of Latin American countries, but now it is also last in monthly minimum wage, way behind Haiti or Cuba, countries we associate with extreme poverty.

Just 20 or so years ago, and for several decades, our GDP was among the first 5 in the region. Now we top the list only in inflation.

Source Keep in mind that it has gotten even worse in the last 2 years.

Source

We have no competition in that department. However, no empirical evidence is enough to make any goverment official acknowledge the catastrophic failure of their economic ideologic model. With a straight face they can tell any complacent journalist that those figures are fake and that the government guarantees the coverage of the so-called basic food basket to all their citizens through the bonuses system they designed via the Carnet de la Patria ID card.

True, the government continues subsidizing a high percentage of the population, but even with those extra incomes, which are inorganic moneys that only contribute to the skyrocketing of the already out-of-control inflation, the amount an average person may receive is way under the minimum amount needed to cover basic expenses. Take my mother-in-law, for example. She is a retired secretary who was able to raise 2 children with her salary, all expenses covered. Now she receives less than a dollar as a pension, plus different bonuses each month, courtesy of the revolution.

It is worth highlighting that not all Venezuelans have the ID the government imposed as a method of social control (I can proudly say I am among those who refused to get one); but even if you have one, that does not guarantee you those bonuses. My wife, for example, was forced to get one because part of the payroll from her school job was going to be paid through that system,and yet, she does not get any bonuses. But even if you got all those at one time, which is never the case, imagine you go to the supermarket for your monthly grocery shopping.

The result has been the obvious one, the one the government still denies: the unofficial dollarization of the Venezuelan economy. Most people are now having different kinds of incomes besides whatever help they can get from relatives or friends who migrated and are doing relatively well. Since our currency is worth nothing, our fiat paper money is almost nonexistent in the markets. This dollarization has allowed the biggest money laundering operations to innundate the markets with foreign cash, which honest people acquire by selling their bolivares or crypto currencies as soon as they can.

The irony of this is that we have businesses, like the one pictured above, that tell you in your face that, even though they are having operations in foreign cash, they will deny you any change in your foreign currency purchases, that is you have to spend whatever dollars bill you have in that same store. This is not a big deal for the average folk, who may have a 10 or a 20, since, as you could see in the price list, you can easily spend $10 on just a few items.

Here lies the importance of the crypto market as a source of income for the Venezuelan families. The average Venezuelan Hiver can make more money a month here than working any job there. That being said, with an average needed income of $200/month, there is a growing need to explore the crypto markets and the possibilites the Blockchain is offering to diversify our activities so that we may aim at long-term investment beyond the mere daily survival income.

There is a growing need in Venezuela for solid decentralized currencies that can allow fast and safe electronic operations without government interventions or manipulations. Even though not many businesses in my town allow you to pay with crypto, I have seen an increasing number of entrepreneurship paving the way for a real economic revolution to come. It is my hope that the Venezuelan community of Hivers can grow enough to start impacting the economic system around them.

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