Bitcoin World #4 - Venezuela: Bitcoin Wont Fix Venezuela with Javier Bastardo - WBD194

Published: Feb. 14, 2020, 1:11 p.m.

Location: Caracas, Venezuela
Date: Thursday, 13th February
Project: Cointelegraph
Role: Journalist

Venezuela is many years into a political and economic crisis. Rooted in the Hugo Chavez presidency and continued by Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela is a mafia dictatorship wearing the cloak of socialism.\xa0

Years of economic mismanagement and corruption has led to financial disaster in Venezuelan, comparatively worse than the Great Depression, Zimbabwe's 2008\u20132009 hyperinflation crisis and the breakup of the Soviet Union.\xa0

Hyperinflation led to significant growth in poverty, starvation and mass migration, with millions leaving the country. With the collapse of the currency, many Bitcoiners, including myself, asked whether Bitcoin could help. Could Bitcoin reduce the impact of hyperinflation? Could locals mine Bitcoin at low energy costs to earn an income? I visited Venezuela to find out.

In this interview, I talk to Javier Bastardo, a journalist for Cointelegraph, based in Caracas, Venezuela. We discuss Venezuela's political and economic situation, hyperinflation and the reality of Bitcoin adoption in the country.