Despite Crisis Venezuela Launches Crypto Remittance Platform, Supporting Bitcoin and Litecoin Payments
Yes, you heard it right. In the midst of political crisis and humanitarian crisis, Venezuela is launching cryptocurrency remittance service- The ‘Remesas,’ in full support of the government. This platform assures financial inclusion as well as the social protection of the people of Venezuela. At this platform, the users can send Bitcoin and Litecoin.
The country is facing severe crises from US sanctions, political upheaval, major failures in the economy, and out of proportion inflation given the President of the country- Nicolas Maduro didn’t accept the convoys filled with food and medical aid offered by the US. This situation also gave room to the opposition leader Juan Guaido to be the self-proclaimed president in the meanwhile.
These are the images that @jorgeramosnews showed Nicholas Maduro and they provoked Maduro to rise from the interview, to hold the Univision team and confiscate their work. This is what Maduro doesn't want me to see the world. pic.twitter.com/gttyiDazxr
— Digital Detritus Ltd. – Tomorrow's Ephemera Today! (@KraftTea) February 26, 2019
The launch of the BTC remittance platform is in a way an effort by the current president of the country to surpass the US sanctions and also to circumvent the opposition on the other hand. This platform will be regulated by Venezuela’s crypto regulator Superintendency of Cryptoassets and Related Activities (Sunacrip) and will be run by Patria. The President will lead the project. This platform launch curtails a monthly limit. One can access into it via an online portal. As per Patria-
“Remesas is a service of the Patria Platform that allows you to send remittances to Venezuela in cryptocurrencies. The resources sent will be available in sovereign bolívars in the Monedero Patria as soon as the transfer is confirmed.”
The service can be disabled at any moment if it doesn’t meet enough funds in bolivars. It will apply a fluctuating commission which will be updated every 24 hours. These features meet a completion through another popular peer-to-peer platform- ‘LocalBitcoins.’ On this platform, users are already sending BTC and LTC coins and that too at a much lower price. The platform recently has reached its all-time high.
https://twitter.com/encontactoconla/status/1100549004826419200
Last month, new crypto regulations were published by the Official Gazette No. 41.581. They ask 15 percent fees on crypto remittance transactions. Monthly cap on transactions of approx. $600 was introduced. This may be increased to 3K U.S Dollars if further authorization is allowed. It is a government centralized and govt. led platform that asks its users to record their data on the platform. The regulations involve-
“The remittance is made in four simple steps (1) record of the data of the person who remits it; (2) define the cryptocurrency to use and agree to the amount to send; (3) then an address will be shown to make the transfer; and finally (4) the identifier (hash) of the operation will be placed. When confirming the operation, the recipient or recipient will be notified through a text message. […] There is a maximum amount to be received monthly due to remittances, which is why additional attention must be paid to the amount that is transferred and must coincide with the amount agreed in the second step of the remittance process. […] “For the remittance, the system will apply the official rate issued by the Central Bank of Venezuela (DICOM Rate) for the day in which the operation is carried out and will apply a commission that can range from the equivalent of 0.25 Euros to 15 percent of the amount total in Bolívars.”
The president’s methods of gaining back control and to strike stability is seen in a different light from the critics. On Twitter, footage was released covering the violence, bloodshed in the streets as the country faces deep turmoil and crises.
Warning: graphic content. Under #Maduro's #socialist regime, Venezuelan children are killed in the streets. Socialist life in #Venezuela is lawless and brutal. pic.twitter.com/hD2VruADJE
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) March 4, 2019
The opposition leader had a meeting with government leaders and supporters throughout South America and returned to the country yesterday. He tweeted an audio message on the social platform- Twitter when he returned to the country. In the audio message, he requested the supporters to fill the streets of the country.
Voy camino a casa. Regreso a seguir trabajando por nuestra ruta y a fortalecer la presión interna que nos permita liberar a nuestro país.
Les pido escuchen, difundan este audio y salgan a las 11 am a las calles #VamosVzlahttps://t.co/9DxZExZtCv#4MVzlaALaCalle
— Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) March 4, 2019
¡A difundir Venezuela!https://t.co/cxsc68qVX3#VamosJuntosALaCalle pic.twitter.com/a4ZaNDbsyK
— Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) March 4, 2019
On one hand where the president of the country is trying to pump up the government-centered payment platform to combat the fall of the local currency. On the other hand, the citizens of the country are combating it by using cryptocurrencies through decentralized platforms, which is free from the control of the government’s intervention. This had a strong effect on the LocalBitcoins platform which gave it a massive boost of all-time high of 25.1 Billion at the beginning of this month.
