Bitcoin World #4 - Venezuela: Bitcoin Won’t Fix Venezuela with Javier Bastardo

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“How can we use Bitcoin if we can’t even communicate with each other with WhatsApp?”
— Javier Bastardo

SHOW DESCRIPTION

Location: Caracas, Venezuela
Date: Thursday, 13th February
Project: Cointelegraph
Role: Journalist

Venezuela is many years into a political and economic crisis. Rooted in the Hugo Chavez presidency and continued by Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela is a mafia dictatorship wearing the cloak of socialism. 

Years of economic mismanagement and corruption has led to financial disaster in Venezuelan, comparatively worse than the Great Depression, Zimbabwe's 2008–2009 hyperinflation crisis and the breakup of the Soviet Union. 

Hyperinflation led to significant growth in poverty, starvation and mass migration, with millions leaving the country. With the collapse of the currency, many Bitcoiners, including myself, asked whether Bitcoin could help. Could Bitcoin reduce the impact of hyperinflation? Could locals mine Bitcoin at low energy costs to earn an income? I visited Venezuela to find out.

In this interview, I talk to Javier Bastardo, a journalist for Cointelegraph, based in Caracas, Venezuela. We discuss Venezuela's political and economic situation, hyperinflation and the reality of Bitcoin adoption in the country.

TIMESTAMPS

00:04:40: Introductions
00:07:21: Chavez
00:08:12: When did problems start to appear
00:11:04: Maduro
00:13:56: Riots in 2016/17
00:19:37: Pro-Maduro rallies
00:22:09: Opposition leader Guaido
00:26:15: Election corruption
00:30:28: Taking control of the press
00:33:03: Cryptocurrencies
00:41:06: Currencies used in Venezuala
00:45:42: Digital spending and Pago Mobile
00:47:15: Hyperinflation
00:47:41: Use case for Bitcoin
00:49:59: Petro
00:53:19: What is preventing widescale adoption of Bitcoin?
00:59:02: Lack of savings culture
01:02:28: Bitcoin Cash misinformation in Venezuela
01:04:14: Other cryptocurrencies
01:09:28: How to help
01:10:55: Final comments

 

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SHOW NOTES

PodcastPeter McCormack