Venezuelans Remitted $461 Million Worth of Crypto in 2023

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked...

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July 8, 2024 23:00 EDT

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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.

Venezuela: Cypto Remittances Remain Popular

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.”

US says it's still open to talks with Venezuela after Maduro announces meeting https://t.co/7YbQFeypTB

— Reuters Venezuela (@ReutersVzla) July 3, 2024

Venezuela: a Crypto U-Turn

In the past, the Venezuelan government has tried to encourage citizens to use crypto as a remittance tool.

The government even launched an app named Patria, which allowed overseas Venezuelans to send crypto via state-operated channels.

The media outlet quoted a Venezuelan man whose name it changed to Espinoza “for his family’s safety.”

The man said he had “been using cryptocurrencies for many years before migrating” to Argentina.

Espinoza said he sends remittances “by buying USDT on Binance and depositing it in fiat” in a bank account in Venezuela.

The man said that his parents could then access the fiat in his account. Espinoza explained:

“This is the easiest way I’ve found to send money to my family and also save money. When I earned money in Argentine pesos, I converted the fiat to crypto so it wouldn’t lose value.”