Venezuela has always been behind in everything related to the technology aspect, and this has brought as a consequence an ignorant people in terms of knowledge of emerging technologies. One of them is blockchain technology, because it is not the main interest of most people, it is as if it almost does not exist. And for those who do know about it, they see it as a way to make money, obviating all the potential that blockchain offers.
Also, words like defi, exchange, decentralized, farm, harvest, are totally unknown here, but as the momentum that blockchain and cryptocurrencies are having has been so strong that even countries like Venezuela are beginning to see great changes in the technological aspect, which opens the doors to a world of possibilities for many Venezuelans who have a similar situation to the Nigerians.
Recently the Venezuelan Exchange CoinCoinX, announced that it would partner with Binance to expand crypto market operations in the country and give it an opportunity to change many lives. Among the benefits highlighted by this commercial alliance are: the possibility of exchanging bolivars and taking them to Binance in real time, making unlimited withdrawals, having cryptocurrency monitors by Chainalysis, having access to Binance's product portfolio and making transfers with this platform almost free of charge.
And to many Venezuelans who are currently in leofinance as samgiset or celi130, gives us the opportunity to buy BNB with the local currency bolivars, and with our metamask wallet, take the BNB cubfinance and invest them in CUB farms or dens, and thus get more involved in the ecosystem of leofinance, also in a more distant case, gives us the possibility to buy LEO to bet and thus grow the voting power, so the possibilities are endless.
“The use of cryptos in our daily life activities is becoming more and more widespread, and their use has even increased among people of the most diverse ages, education, occupation and income level, due to their growing functionality".
CEO of CoinCoinX
This alliance of a Venezuelan exchange with binance, is a wide door to the future, think of everything that would be used in Venezuela such as: buying everyday items, paying with crypto in cafes, restaurants and pharmacies. Also send remittances anywhere in the world, with real speed and without the high commissions, pay for daily services of operation, repair and household supplies. As well as the possibility of importing technology that would contribute to the development of the country.
But like any good story, this one also has its downside. Since the activity with cryptocurrencies in the country is currently highly regulated and although making transactions in Binance does not take a lot of money in commissions, the country's authorities do, with high taxes. This has led many to do this type of activities in other ways and out of the authorities' sight.
Also, as this technology is something new for most Venezuelans (Yes, they still use a passbook in banks and checks) there is a lot of distrust in these services, because of its high volatility and so many news of fraud, many prefer to avoid it. Also, this type of exchanges are very centralized and you can have the possibility of losing your money. And finally, this exchange has only one bank (of the more than 20 in the country) available to withdraw your BNB to bolivars, so if you have another bank, you have to wait the next day to get your money, which does not give any confidence.
But it remains to be seen how this new window to the crypto world develops, possibly as the demand for services like this grows, we will see better and less centralized ways, so it remains to be seen the full potential that Venezuelans can take advantage of using this technology.