Saturday, January 26, 2019

Pro-Bitcoin, Anti-Petro 🇻🇪

January 26, 2019

Venezuela's New President Supports Bitcoin, Not Petro

Venezuela's financial wellbeing is in shambles. It has been this way for the past few years as the country suffered through an economic crisis that sent the value of its national currency, the bolivar, tumbling.

During that time frame, Nicolas Maduro led the country as president and only made the situation worse. He also created a state cryptocurrency called Petro that has seen little success of becoming the end-all solution he'd hoped for.

Now, however, a new president is being recognized as the leader of Venezuela and he has been supporting Bitcoin since 2014.

Guaído is an OG

Named Juan Guaído, the first time he publicly showed support for Bitcoin was in 2014 on Twitter when he urged citizens to purchase Bitcoin to fight hyperinflation.

Since then, a handful of citizens have followed in purchasing Bitcoin. LocalBitcoins, a P2P exchange, saw record highs for Venezuela in 2018 with little drop off in sight.

Anti-Petro

But he's not just a fan of Bitcoin, he also hates Petro.

Back in early 2018, Maduro searched for a solution to his country's economic crisis. And so, the government launched a cryptocurrency called Petro that would:

Hold value because it is backed by Venezuela's rich oil reserves
Avoid economic sanctions because it is a new currency
Free up cash for the struggling government

Those were the promises, but they didn't happen. Guaído actually called it just after the announcement in December 2017 saying:

"The Petro is the scam coin of the Maduro regime that pays to continue scamming the people. No more teasing."

All in on Bitcoin?

While Bitcoin continues to gain traction in Venezuela due to simple highways like Bitcoin ATMs, it's possible the South American country finds total safe haven in the cryptocurrency.

With a censorship-resistant, deflationary, and completely digital asset at their disposal, it could prove to put the power of money back into the hands of the people.

NEWS

Apple Co-Founder Steve Wozniak Got Out at $20,000

Despite the positive comments that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak has shared in the past about Bitcoin, he still sold out on top when the cryptocurrency hit $20,000 in December of 2017.

Reported by Business Insider, Wozniak explained that he first bought Bitcoin when it was worth $700 to "experiment with it."

When the price hit $20,000, however, Wozniak sold his holdings because he didn't "want to be one of those people who watches and watches [the price] and cares about the number."

Still big on blockchain

Though Wozniak still supports Bitcoin, he also has created his own venture fund that focuses entirely on blockchain-powered technologies.

Called EQUI Global, the fund reportedly runs on the Ethereum blockchain and uses tokens to provide liquidity to investors who want to realize their gains when they want.

Investments are limited to accredited investors for now.

CHINA

China's Picks, EOS Takes First Again, Bitcoin Sits 15th

For just under a year, China's Center for Information and Industry Development (CCID) has been releasing cryptocurrency rankings based on three categories:

Basic technology
Applicability
Creativity

Here are the top 15 from the ninth public crypto ranking:

EOS
Ethereum
Ontology
GXChain
BitShares
NULS
NEO
Nebulas
Komodo
Steem
Stellar
Lisk
IOTA
Waves
Bitcoin

Previously, the rankings faced intense criticism for ranking Bitcoin, the oldest and most secure blockchain, so low. In addition, the rankings seem to care little about important measures that make a cryptocurrency thrive such as adoption and decentralization.

BITS

But wait, there's more...

💰 SBI subsidiary supports crypto mobile wallet BRD in a $15 million funding round.
🇮🇹 Italy's senate is working to create a legal foundation for blockchain timestamps.
📉 Analysts are warning that the crypto hangover isn't over for miner manufacturer AMD.

MEME