Political upheaval triggers use of #criptomonedas in #Venezuela
According to Chainalysis' 2024 ranking, Venezuela was the country with the greatest year-on-year growth in cryptocurrency adoption.
Immersed in a strong political upheaval that has been aggravated after the presidential elections held last July, Venezuelans are turning to cryptocurrencies as a safe haven for value. Digital assets become one of the main tools to face uncertainty, while the international dispute over the election results continues.
Although last year's figures seemed to indicate a slight lack of interest in the sector, the data for 2024 points to substantial growth in cryptocurrency transactions in Venezuelan territory. This is indicated by Chainalysis' 2024 report for Latin America, which places the South American country in fourth place, behind Argentina, Brazil and Mexico.
The country is now just one spot higher than it was last year. This seems like a small advance, but it is accompanied by a year-on-year growth of more than 110% (double compared to 2023). This rise implies a traded volume of more than $25 billion, with which Venezuela far exceeds the progress achieved by any other country in the region during the last year.
âFirst of all, it seems that Venezuelans are attracted to digital assets to combat the plummeting value of their local currency, the bolivar (VES),â Chainalysis notes, also citing NicolĂĄs Maduroâs recent announcements to âreturn to cryptocurrencies,â although so far no concrete plans have been announced on the subject.
