Deconstructing myths and drama about Bitcoin in Venezuela.

When we talk about cryptocurrency as some kind of “life savior” for critical economies, we do tend to put much more attention into drama than to the whole picture, so we miss a few important facts around it; like the “kids in Africa are starving” excuse that my mom used with me and my sister for us to eat when we didn’t liked a meal, so we grow up into believing Africa is a synonym for poverty (it’s not).

Well, now it’s a tendency to see Bitcoin only as a financial instrument used for survival (wrong again). You want drama? I’ll give you some.

So here i am, dealing with my grandma’s nearly collapsed lung and quite sensitive cardiac condition in a post-apocalyptic “revolutionary” medical crisis in Venezuela. With the rise on the price of the cryptos, I’m fulfilling the drama of survival through Bitcoin to pay for her treatment, along with the responsibility of mine and my family’s basic needs.

I must highlight that this is not such a common scenario for many people in the country. Yes, cryptos are helping me survive, but the implications of their use go far beyond that, since I am building a career around them, while others use them as an investment rather than a currency. I’m just saying, it’s not all about the money.

Once, I met a german journalist, who was really into the adoption of cryptos in Latin America, so we chatted a little during a conference back in Colombia. My colleague’s eyes lighted up as he heard how my income in crypto as an editor was helping me get through the worst of the broken socialist model imposed in my country. It was like finding an aborigine telling you all about hunting lions for dinner or something.

Since then, I haven’t really talked about it to anyone. I’m currently living on my savings as I pursuit my career objectives, which have nothing to do with generating any kind of pity or compassion, but rather knowledge and a real perception of the use of decentralized technologies such as cryptocurrencies in my country. There’s also the fact that going around saying openly that you own crypto it’s never a smart choice, ever, so I just don’t.

I have interviewed many miners and investors looking for that drama feed, but what I have found would deeply disappoint anyone who thinks of Bitcoin or cryptos in general as some kind of miraculous fix for a terrible economy and financial situation. So let’s get some myths down:

Everyone in Venezuela it’s turning to crypto as a last-financial resort. Just like not every kid in Africa is precisely starving, not everyone in Venezuela it’s using crypto to get through the crisis. Actually, in a country where the lack of cash represents a gigantic mess, a vast majority it’s not familiar with P2P payments, or even know what a cryptocurrency is. That fact doesn’t change despite of the many recent government actions towards it’s adoption, which include the sudden launch of an ICO and starting it’s approach to the mining community (after a witch-hunt that still goes on).

On the other hand, education in this field is still in baby steps. It’s hard to get people to use something they are not sure of how it works, and is commonly explained as a “good deal” or something that sounds pretty much like an scheme.

Mining in Venezuela it’s a blast and everyone is doing it. Oh yes, the famous “cheap basic services” card. Ok, so here’s the thing: electricity is cheap because it’s subsidised by the government, and yes, that’s attractive for mining activity. However, this doesn’t mean it works. Actually, blackouts are not rare, at all. There are states where the power goes off for even 8 hours a day (and they are trying to blame it on miners, by the way).

And don’t even get me started on the internet, which is the slowest of Latin America, with 1,6 mega bits per second (Mgbps). Good luck trying to beat all the nods in the network with that, champs.

Also, cryptocurrencies and the equipment to get it are something that you buy first in order to benefit from it’s future value (a.k.a. an investment), and they are not precisely in a regular venezuelan priorities list, or anyone’s earning a minimum wage in Bolívares Fuertes, which goes down to -get ready for this- the equivalent of less than $5 a month. Right now, the standard family food basket it’s placed in no less than $73, which is already unaffordable for more than 90% of the population, leave alone afford a $2000 S9 AntMiner, if you are thinking about getting bitcoins. And that’s not even the punch line here.

Owning crypto makes you spontaneously rich. I’ve already said this: no, cryptocurrencies are not a quick financial fix. And back to rule number one: you don’t say you own crypto. There’s a simple reason for that, and is that everyone tends to think that you are seated in a throne of gold if you even mention it. Wrong again. Just like $73 don’t sound like much for those who earn that amount in less than a day, it’s still not much for those who live in Venezuela, even if it’s in Bitcoin.

Going back to my grandma’s delicate health, her 3-days treatment it’s valued in no less than 400$. We are talking about x80 minimum wages in medical expenses only. Being able to pay for it doesn’t mean I’m rich, but incredibly lucky.

The part left out by schemes that are founded in the promises of fortune with the investment in crypto, is that when the market falls, that luck can run out. Because I wasn’t able to pay for half of the money I just expend on my grandma’s treatment two weeks ago, when the market was dropping harder than the beat in a The Chainsmokers’s song.

Also, miners I’ve reached out to don’t talk about getting rich, but about getting by. Right now, there’s nothing as rare as being financially independent in your 20’s, or even 30’s, so what they all are striving for at this point is to simply have a normal life, or close enough to it. And no, not with Bitcoin, but usually zcash, ethers and other altcoins easier to mine. And by the way no, no one is using Petro.

So there you go, that’s part of the realness behind the crypto boom that has reached Venezuela. The country does have an emerging community focused in this technology that keeps getting stronger everyday. As it’s replicated in any part of the world, the adoption and spreading of knowledge scalates just as fast as the society will allow it and as much engaging the crypto-community can get through education.

Blockchain and cryptocurrency ecosystem getting mainstream comes along with the growing necessity of economic and financial understatement, let alone the technological field. We’ve got a lot to learn, and in the meanwhile it will be interesting to see how that affects our culture, getting us -traditional believers of cash and banks- closer to the possibilities of FinTech.