I agree. The idea of decentralized financial exchange that respond to no laws is problematic, to say the least.
I think that decentralized notion should go as far as getting rid of unnecessary burocratic restrains and away from the political turmoils that play with fiat money (and still, we see how crytos' fluctuating market does not seem to be that disconnected from political issues).
There have been reports of increasingly high trading rates of Bitcoins in Venezuela. Something that could be explained by the volatility of our fiat currency. Who would want to save in Bs?
However considering the overall poverty of the population and how expensive it is to make a significant investment in Birtcoins, only one explanation is possible: money laundering!
Only people who have stolen money in the Maduro administration or who have made money out of drug traficcking or other ilegal activities can move the bitcoin market in venezuela up.
That should be subject to supervision. Criminals are finding in crypto currencies a tax haven.
Except for some affirmations regarding inflation (not clear if it refers to the whole american region or just venezuela), this article provides a accurate timeline of the Petro fiasco in the context of Venezuela's political and economic crisis.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/venezuela-on-fire-how-maduros-petro-plan-failed-to-bail-out-the-country
When Maduro launched the Petro he lied to the country stating that in one day they were able to get hundreds of millions of dollars in investment. When experts did some digging, they found that nobody had purchased a single petro. Probably the government did buy whatever amount traded. Then they started to force people to "buy" Petros by retaining part of their salaries or any bonus the government had promised. That kind of compulsory transactions were the only "legitimate" ones going on.
Thus, here decentralization of audit, the idea of transparency and exposure in all transactions is a great concept to avoid corrupt goverments fiascos, but more measures should be taken to avoid money laundering.
Great call out @hlezama. For all the good that decentralized cryptocurrencies can do, there are those that abuse the systems.
Interestingly though, there have been several cases where Bitcoins gained through illegal activity have been frozen on exchanges. Or, in other cases, the wallets have been identified and any transactions are followed.
Thank you for dropping by. Hope to see you again.
Dear @hlezama
I appreciate your AMAZING comment. Thx for accepting my invitation to this post and sharing your thoughts with us.
Seriously? noone did? I wasn't aware of it. So it was quite a failure, right?
Yours,
Piotr
Noone did at the launching. The goverment just posted a bogus figure to give the impression that it had been a success, that investors were lining up to save our economy.
Then, they launched a campaign showing government officials purchasing/saving in Petros.
Of course, the chavistas bought Petros after that. Most venezuelans were forced to.
The government designed a system of bonifications through the Carnet de la Patria (Motherland ID Card--can you think of a more stupid name for an ID card used with the sole purpose of controlling people?). The have to give these bonuses because minimun wage, which is what most peole get these days, is never enough to cover more than 1 day a month. If you don't get this new ID you can't get the bonuses.
Well, some of the bonuses were automatically put in Petros, a crypto wallet to encourage saving.
Most people found ways to cash those into fiat money.
For most chavistas who believed this fraud, because the government sets the price of Petros and it has been on the rise, they feel they are making a good deal. Even if the Petro increased its value 100% a month (which it has not) that is nothing compared to the 100,000% inflation (which is a conservative monthly estimate these days).
BIG THX for replying @hlezama. I very much appreciate your time and effort and I'm grateful that you're sharing your knowledge and observations with me.
chavistas ??? What is chavistas ?
So it was possible to cash it out already? good.
Yours
Piotr
It's me again @hlezama
You keep posting really quality content. Perhaps you could always send me memo with link to your publication and 2-3 sentences description ? I will gladly support you with upvote, will drop a comment.
Especially if your publication will be related to crypto,blockchain,AI, economy or psychology (just don't send me memos like every day hehe)
And if I will have some time then I will also share your publication with my larger audience and will help you get some extra traffic.
Please keep in mind, that you can count on my help (whenever I can support you, I will) :)
Cheers
Piotr
Thanks. I will.
The chavistas are the followers and venerators of hugo chavez. The worst kind are those who say they are chavistas but not maduristas. They claim to reject maduro's government, but will never accept a change of goverment outside their revolutio