Venezuelans’ interest in buying Bitcoin has increased significantly over the last three months, Criptonoticias news outlet reports Wednesday, June 6, citing data from the LocalBitcoins exchange. Venezuela experienced its first cryptocurrency boom in early 2017, when a record volume of 805 bitcoins exchanged in a week was set. Venezuelan bolivar to Bitcoin exchange volume. Source: LocalBitcoins Following that, the level of interest towards crypto in Venezuela dropped, coinciding with a decline in trading volume to as low as 150 bitcoins bought per week. However, according to Criptonoticias, in early-to-mid 2018, Bitcoin investment surged once again in Venezuela, as evidenced by …

The views and opinions expressed here are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Cointelegraph.com. As society starts to move away from cash, central banks’ potential to reap profits off issuing that cash could be threatened. Many governments are worried about the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies and hence are considering the merits of creating a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Central banks have woken up to the risks cryptocurrencies can pose to policy makers’ bread-and-butter business: the economy. Hence the debate about the pros and cons of government digital currency closed private blockchains versus …

A Russian official has refuted claims that Venezuela offered to repay its debts in its newly-launched Petro cryptocurrency, Reuters reports today, March 27. As Reuters reports, Konstantin Vyshkovsky, head of the Russian finance ministry’s state debt department, told reporters that no cryptocurrency-based debt repayments were on the horizon. The update came a week after Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro announced that the Russian ruble would be one of the handful of fiat currencies freely convertible with Petro. The others are the Chinese yuan, Turkish lira and the euro. “Starting March 23, all legal and physical entities will be able to purchase …

When the Petro was unveiled to the world by Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro, he led the cheering squad about what a groundbreaking and successful idea it would be. A government-backed, oil-pegged, cryptocurrency that would aid the ailing Venezuelan nation in their time of crisis with a hyper-inflated currency. However, the pomp and promise of the Petro has quickly been dissected and seen through as the feeling coming from those in Venezuela, as well as those who have been exiled or left on their own accord, see the Petro as one big scam. Maduro continues to plug and push his digital …

After the launch of the Venezuelan government-backed cryptocurrency the Petro on Feb. 20, President Nicolas Maduro has already hinted at second government cryptocurrency soon to be released, according to government-sponsored news outlet TelSsur. This time, the government-backed cryptocurrency will be backed not by oil, but by gold. During a Patria Para Todos [Fatherland For All] party event at the National Theater in Caracas, Maduro announced, “The petro is a cryptocurrency unique in the world that is supported by oil, and I have a surprise that I will launch next week, the Petro Oro [gold], backed by gold, even more powerful.” …

This idea that simply plugging your computer or nowadays, specialized mining rigs into the Internet and making money out of thin air is extremely attractive. However, it is obviously not as simple as it sounds, and the mining sector is one that has become very competitive and sophisticated. Despite this individuals who are interested in mining can still join in, and by narrowing their margins, there is the potential to make a decent profit. It all comes down to cheap resources though, and in the case of mining, that resource is electricity. The disparity between electricity prices around the world …

The Dash network is sponsoring twelve free conferences in Venezuela from September through the end of the year. The goal of these events is to increase Venezuelans’ knowledge of virtual currencies in general, and Dash in particular. The nation’s worsening hyperinflation has caused the popularity of Bitcoin and Ethereum to soar as people turn to these currencies as a more effective store of value than the Venezuelan Bolivar. The Dash plan Representatives of the Dash team have been regulars at a number of key Bitcoin conferences around the world. Recently, Dash announced that it is hosting an entire conference dedicated …

The number of Venezuelan bitcoin users has doubled and the trading volumes of Venezuelan bitcoin exchanges have increased substantially since 2014. A spokesman of bitcoin Venezuela told Panampost: “The price [of bitcoin] never fluctuates at the same rate as the devaluation of the bolívar, which lost 60 percent of its value in one month.” The country’s largest bitcoin advocacy organization stated that a significantly large portion of bitcoin buyers hold the digital currency, and they are not worried about its volatility. Instead, some are very optimistic on the value of bitcoin, and they are hoping to see a short-term increase …