Venezuelans seeing bitcoin boom as survival, not speculation

CARACAS, Venezuela – In the last month, John Villar has bought two plane tickets to Colombia, purchased his wife’s medication and paid the employees of his startup business in Venezuela — all in bitcoin.

Thousands of Venezuelans like Villar have begun turning to the world of cryptocurrency to salvage what little value remains from their increasingly worthless bolivars. They’re paying for everything from doctor appointments and honeymoons to motorcycles and artisanal beer.

The number of Venezuelans using cryptocurrencies remains unclear, but weekly bitcoin trading volume through one popular website has soared from about $225,000 earlier this year to nearly $2.1 million in the first week of December — this in a country where the monthly minimum wage fetches less than $2 on the black market.