Venezuelans Remitted $461 Million Worth of Crypto in 2023
Venezuela’s recent crackdown on crypto is unlikely to dent enthusiasm for tokens, with data showing people in the nation remitted $461 million worth of coins in 2023.
The crackdown has seen crypto exchanges closed and miners forced to shut down their rigs. The state-run crypto agency has also been shuttered.
Per La Republica, data from sources including the Inter-American Dialogue think tank, Bloomberg, and Chainalysis, indicates that the popularity of crypto as a remittance tool grew in 2023.
The media outlet reported that the “amount transmitted through cryptocurrencies likely reached a record 9% of all money sent [to Venezuela] last year.”
The data shows that $9 out of every $100 remitted to Venezuela was sent in the form of tokens like Bitcoin (BTC).
Crypto transactions accounted for a record 9% of all the remittances sent home to Venezuela last year. https://t.co/SmsO2JVkQY
— Bloomberg (@business) July 5, 2024
The media outlet also noted that over 7.7 million people are thought to have left Venezuela in the past 10 years. It wrote of an “exodus” to US cities such as New York and Chicago.
The data further shows that in 2023, Venezuelans received more than $5.4 billion in remittances. That figure constitutes “at least 6%” of the country’s gross domestic product.
The number represents a rise of nearly 75% in the total amount sent to the country in 2021.
“Over $461 million worth of remittances were made using crypto” in 2023, the media outlet wrote.
The media outlet added that peer-to-peer platforms “have become popular among Venezuelans.”
These platforms reportedly “let people exchange cryptocurrencies at the market rates, often bypassing official exchange controls.”
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