Bitcoin is the first of the virtual coins, also called "criptomonedas", that exist in the world and more and more reaches reaches. Among its characteristics are that it is decentralized, is not governed by any economy or central bank, and its convertibility in dollars or euros, a particularity that makes it so attractive for Venezuelans seeking to circumvent the exchange control in force and obtain foreign exchange.
Evencio Villalobos, a Zulian who entered the world in the middle of last year, told this. "I decided to enter when I saw that for a small investment could have a constant bitcoin amount that I can convert into dollars," revealed the young man.
Also, this issue touched the Venezuelan scene two weeks ago with the dismantling of a shed in Carabobo, dedicated to mining (generation of this criptomoneda) and arrested two young people belonging to a network that operates from Poland and is dedicated Currency fraud, money laundering and computer crime.
That is why not everything is marvel as it paints the world of bitcoin. Economic experts agree that this electronic currency that dates from 2009, invented by Satoshi Nakamoto, pseudonym of the true creator, has several fundamental weaknesses: it does not have supervision nor the support of any economy, nor of reserves.
Economist Blagdimir Labrador explained the points against. "Every currency has to have the backing of economies of regions, countries or large companies, in this case is not fulfilled. In addition, the information of the person making the transactions is not available, which facilitates the legitimization of capital because there is no supervision of where the funds come from. "
As for the dismantling of the "virtual mining" in Carabobo, Labrador agreed. "It's also as if you are a parallel bank and you are going to offer very high interests and you make it very attractive. In the end, you have no way to respond and it is the state that has to ensure that scams do not occur, "he said.
The currency is intangible and already in some cities like New York accept it for commercial transactions.
It is important to note that in order to obtain the electronic currency, people can buy it through real currencies, such as dollars, whose prices in Venezuela are around $ 1,000, and in bolivars, Bs. 3 million. Another way, through a process called mining, in which an investor contributes funds on a web page to supply him bitcoin through computers that solve very complex mathematical problems.
Despite the inherent risks, the network has grown rapidly in Venezuela, according to data collected by The Guardian newspaper, from 450 users in August 2014 to more than 85,000 in November 2016.
While the Localbitcoins portal verified, in an analysis of this "criptomoneda" in Latin America, that in December there were the largest number of operations in bolívares 731.2 million (approximately 218,400 dollars).
The director of the School of Economics of LUZ, Eddy Aguirre, details more about this rebound. "Bitcoin is a virtual currency that has been growing in recent times in countries that have currency restrictions, because of its free convertibility characteristic. Right now there is a rather significant push in China for its use and this could give it a greater formality later on for transactions, "the expert explained. He added that in Venezuela, those who enter this market are mainly young people with little financial risk culture.
Aguirre also warned that the behavior of this currency "has been erratic and has reached high values of quotation and then a quite crash". It should be noted that its value is placed by supply and demand and not a monetary benchmark, as in our case with the bolivar and the dollar.
"It is a risky currency because its price rises and then falls and may cause those who invest to lose their money. The support is what must be strengthened so that it does not constitute a possibility of fraud, of volatility that usually accompanies these transactions that do not have sufficient support. We must consider this point so that it does not become a 'bubble', stressed the economist.
In Venezuela, the number of users stood at 85,000
In December 2016, almost 2000% more than in 2014
This is the difference established by Labrador with another virtual currency, Sucre, which has no convertible value and is used by the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas (Alba), in order to progressively replace the US dollar.
"Sucre has the backing of the economy of the region: the size, the indicators, the inflation that allows to see the appreciation and depreciation of the exchange rate between the countries that market," said the expert.
i myself a venezuelan use this coin to make sone money because our real coin BOLIVARES it´s very bad in the market right now.