THE FEATURE A Plan to Send Millions in Bitcoin to Venezuela Is Moving Ahead Developer Jonathan Wheeler is at an impasse of sorts. The former bank employee turned developer doesn't want to say too much about his newest project, an effort he believes could soon help people living under one of the world's most oppressive monetary regimes. That's because he needs others to help him with his mission – getting bitcoin in the hands of Venezuelan citizens by way of a massive mobile airdrop. The problem is that spilling too much intel could put those he's working with in danger. The Venezuela government routinely arrests people with deviating political opinions and has even gone as far as to ban technologies citizens have used to circumvent its censorship. That's not to mention the fact that Venezuela's government has already launched its own cryptocurrency, the petro, which it's painted as key to its economic revival. Still, Wheeler is set on ditching efforts to try and help the country by way of political change. Instead, he wants to use bitcoin to quell an economic crisis so severe people are finding it difficult to pay for necessities (food is in such short supply, in fact, the majority of the population is losing weight). And he's eager to share that the project is no longer just a lofty ambition sketched out on Medium, but that it has some legs – supporting a growing team developing a mobile app called Azul, which he hopes, by the end of the year, will be enough to draw millions in donations. |