“ First, the amount of Bitcoin traded based on the chart in the minuscule. If you have a dime and increase it to a quarter in an economy of millions does not indicate anything.”
Following this line of reasoning, we should ignore that weekly volumes of bitcoin exchanges are at all time high in Venezuela.
“Bitcoin volume statistics are totally bogus. 95% of Bitcoin trades are bogus wash transactions as reported to the SEC. If you believe the bitcoin volumes reported by the crypto exchanges, then every single bitcoin in existence is bought and sold 45 X each year. Not very believable.”
So bitcoin statistics are bogus because not reported correctly to the SEC. Anonymity is the key here and we can’t ignore that Bitcoin exchanges are shifting from centralized entities to decentralized ones (P2P, OTC, DEX, ecc.). But then we can talk about how bogus are statistics that are considered reliable such as CPI, hedonic adjustments, GDP deflator, GAAP accountability, and so on. It’s better to believe in stories told by people, those who use BTC for example to survive. Those who use BTC to retain privacy and the fruits of their labor. Those who escape from government’s clutches (capital controls).
“Venezuelans who have access to computers and the internet have much better technical options. Global bank accounts and services like Pay Pal are encrypted and can be used to transact in dollars or other stable currencies.”
Don’t be naive. PayPal takes days before crediting money into your account. Not to mention failings to pay with a card attached to it (i.e. Mastercard). Bitcoin it takes a bunch of minutes to be credited and its blockchain is live 24/7. You can check everything from your wallet and Melis for example offers way many services that are indeed better than Paypal ones. Not to mention that PayPal CEO owns Bitcoin.
“80% of internet accounts in Venezuela are with the state-owned ISP and the rest are with ISP which the state controls. Most Venezuelans who hardly have funds to pay for food, cannot afford to keep up computers and pay ISP fees. Maduro likes it that way.”
It happens to be so also in China. So what? You claim yourself to be an economist. Do you think people are robots? Do you think that people are stupid because unable to learn? Do you think government is the end of the road? People are purposeful beings able to find ways to overcome barriers. News flash: BTC transactions can be sent also through radio waves. We are understanding to which school of economics you seem to be affiliate.
