Know 5 ways to use bitcoin in Venezuela

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Key facts:

With only having a wallet of bitcoin, you can try any of the uses addressed.If you don’t understand well the risks of the use of bitcoin, you may lose your funds.Using bitcoin may seem very complicated, but once you use it and check its benefits, it becomes something simple, very similar to any form of payment. In Venezuela, for their economic circumstances, has become quite popular and well-known. But the uses of bitcoin in this country are perfectly applicable in any other country in the world. Bitcoin is global and can be used in any country, even if your government prohibits it.This is why I want to share several uses that I have given to bitcoin (BTC) from Venezuela. Given that there are still areas of the country with electrical problems and connectivity to the Internet, there are logical limitations to access to the uses that we will describe. However, I present this list of uses on how they can use bitcoin in Venezuela:foreign-currency Hedge to protect against the devaluation of the bolivar (VES).Means for sending remittances to other countries.Payment of products and services, both digital and physical.Testing new technologies.Trading of cryptocurrencies.

Exchange hedging to protect themselves from the devaluation of the bolivar (VES)

This is one of the largest uses of bitcoin in Venezuela, although this has decreased following the removal of the law of illicit exchange. Now the whole world can talk of the rate of change of the dollar and operate it publicly, without fear of being prosecuted. Even so, bitcoin continues to be an alternative to having a currency more stable and secure enterprise, the momentary value of the bolivars, for those who do not have accounts in foreign currency and know how to handle a wallet of bitcoin.I reiterate that this is not the first option of receipt of value by the majority of venezuelans. In the first place is the dollar, to the point that some economists have determined that the 50% of the transactions between retailers is done with dollars.Now, if the option of using bitcoin you seems attractive and also I hate having to search for with whom buy and sell dollars in cash, you can make exchanges of BTC to SEE whenever you want through the platform of P2P, LocalBitcoins. Venezuela is one of the markets with the greatest liquidity on that platform. Also, there are other options as LocalCryptos, Hodl Hodl, among others; where they can get different forms of payment and rates of changes that could be favorable or not for each user.Also, you can assist yourself from the devaluation of the bolívar, if your salary is paid in BTC. If not, what you can change of you SEE BTC through LocalBitcoins, just receive your payment. There you would be at the mercy of the volatility of BTC, but this is much less than that of the VES. If you work on your own, you can also accept bitcoin as a form of payment, or for the sale of your product or service, you just need a wallet of bitcoin to do this. It is likely that you don’t have many clients that use that form of payment, but having more options is always good.

In order to send or receive remittances to other countries

As bitcoin is a currency that is not limited to the borders of a nation, is a great way to send money from one country to another. From Venezuela with bitcoin through LocalBitcoins, I have sent money to the united States, Colombia and Spain without leaving my house. With change the country where to see the operations on LocalBitcoins and get some user that is willing to send money to a third party, you already have done the process.Now, not everything is as perfect as it seems, because depending on the country, you can vary the amount of local users that make offers of sale. Then, if there are few bids to buy or sell bitcoin in any country, it is more likely that the exchange price is not attractive.Another option is straightforward if you have some acquaintance in the destination country that knows how to use bitcoin and are interested in selling or buying, you can give it to them for the local currency and he transfers the funds to the person you like.

Payment of products and services, both digital and physical

Being a digital currency, its simplest use is as a form of payment on the Internet. In particular, I have used it to buy gift cards and purchase on sites like Amazon, Steam and others. Also, I have paid directly for hosting services of files such as Mega and to pay for hosting of web pages. Not only that, I have family that have paid with BTC in transactions that have been made with other people through websites such as MercadoLibre.As in the physical world is more difficult to use bitcoin as a means of payment, because few people really know how to accept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. I have come to purchase a smart phone and a few routers laptops with BTC directly; one of the vendors of the company only showed me the QR code of your wallet, without the processor of any payment, to scan your address, I put the agreed amount in the wallet Coinomi and ready. Then they ended up billing the products, remove them quietly without so many problems.I would add that I paid in local with payment processors like Farmarket or Traki, each one uses a payment processor other than, where, in general, the payment process is fluid how big are these companies. The only detail to keep in mind with these payments, are the rates of change that I never were favorable.

In these cases of buying at local physical, you should always check the exchange rate they are using, with the excuse of not being a means of payment so massive they could use an exchange rate of USD / BTC, or you SEE / USD is quite bad for the consumer, and you have no more desire to pay with bitcoin. You can see examples of these by the social networks:

You may not count as a form of payment, but I paid the clinic where my son was born by changing the time directly from BTC to you SEE, with these last I paid the cost of the clinic. I did it this way, because I find it more simple to change you SEE BTC to go to USD and have to protect dollars in cash, since I have no foreign account. If you want to read the entire story can be read here.

To test new technologies

For my work in Breaking News and my eternal curiosity, I have used other technologies related to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. For example, with bitcoin I’ve used his Lightning Network that allows you to make exchanges almost instant commissions very low, so it is interesting to make micropayments in applications such as games or tips. With Ethereum, I’ve tried some dApps as Peepeth and Cryptokitties, on this last I admit that I lost money by falling in to the hype of the moment.In all applications of the major networks related to bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, you have to use any real funds. Now, if you want to test them without losing or spending a penny you can try the testnet networks and / or test each one and more still if you’re a developer.

Trading cryptocurrencies

If you have free time, a huge risk appetite and you are not afraid of gambling, you can try the exchange between cryptocurrencies. As it is a market moved enough, you can both earn a lot, like losing a lot. Up to the present time, there are many exchange houses in altcoins that allow you to operate from Venezuela, with the exception of Bittrex and Coinbase.I had a time that I tried it, but I thought it was a practice boring and risky because it requires to leave your cryptocurrencies in the exchange houses to operate properly and be very attentive to what is happening in the market at each instant. Learning that left me that time, is always to swing towards BTC, so keep altcoins for a long time you can generate large losses.

Uses not recommended of bitcoin in Venezuela

As I mentioned in the case of the CryptoKitties. This and other fashions that occur in the ecosystem, if you don’t measure risks well, you are surely going to lose money. Not to mention on trading operations.There are other “applications” more familiar than I realized, which are losses of money, as is the cloud mining; these companies will sell you a few contracts equivalent to mining, but conditions are very disadvantageous. For example, if it is not profitable enough, you can cancel the contract. What is invested in this “contract mining” could have had much more return in the foreign exchange market of cryptocurrencies.As you can see these are all uses that I have given to bitcoin in Venezuela, some not so good. I should clarify that these are not the only uses that we can give, but only those that I know and have done. Some are more simple to run than others, but all part of knowing how to operate a wallet of bitcoin. If any you are interested, don’t be afraid and use your satoshis, taking into account the risks of each use. Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Breaking News.

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