Venezuela could become ground zero in the push for widespread adoption of cryptocurrency. There are now over a thousand merchants accepting crypto payments in the South American country, according to the team behind the digital asset Dash.
While the number accounts for fewer than 1% of all retail stores in Venezuela, crypto insider Ernesto Contreras expects crypto usage at retail locations in the country to soar to 10% by the end of 2020 and estimates that $25 million worth of crypto will be involved in retail transactions every year.
The analyst’s projections are based on the following factors:
Venezuelans are also trading increasing amounts of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin trading volume on the peer-to-peer platform LocalBitcoins in Venezuela just printed a fresh all-time high. According to data tracker Coin.dance, BTC volume climbed by over 38% from 263.3 billion Venezuelan bolivar to 363.4 billion for the week ending January 11th.
Says Eduardo Gómez, head of support at Purse.io,
“The Venezuelan-Colombian border is the melting pot where Bitcoin is being used for what it is, an unstoppable, permission-less store of value. Lots of exciting things are happening there.”
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