USD Tether (USDT), a US dollar stablecoin issued by Tether Limited, is gaining ground in the Venezuelan economy, which is beginning to see this asset as an alternative to the absence of physical paper money and the protracted economic crisis.
Beyond the use of USDT as a store of value in a highly inflationary economy, the currency has played a notable role. In use as a payment method Regarding products and services.
Through the South American country’s native application and integration with the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance. The use of USDT for payments is rapidly gaining popularity in Venezuela.
A typical example is a supermarket. In the previous article, we explained how the formula USDT + Cashea (the country’s main credit and debt company) is used to avoid inflation and make necessary purchases for about a month.
Well, it turns out that in a chaotic city like Caracas it is customary to take a taxi. It is also possible to pay with USDT.
It all starts with Yummy Ride. Yes, it’s the Uber of Venezuela. This is a transportation company founded by businessman Vicente Zavalche and launched in 2020. This is an appendix of Yummy. app Specializing in food marketing.
This application is used for taking taxis, motorcycle taxis, sending luggage, requesting mechanical support, etc. We have enabled stablecoin payments for over 2 years Works with USDT via Binance Pay. Binance Pay is a division of the exchange that streamlines cryptocurrency payments within its platform.
Pay with USDT
I tried this integration. With the demands and fatigue of a busy day, I experienced firsthand how a new economy came to take root in my country. Crises are common and commonplace today.
Under the harsh sun,they burn coconuts« I was walking down the street of La Oyada, in the center of the city. It was rush hour, so Choosing public transportation was a bad decision. The reason is simple. They can’t handle it, and it’s literally a challenge to board these forces when Caracas is in full swing.
I said to myself, my hands aching from the weight of the bags I was carrying and sweat beading down my forehead.Better order something delicious«.
That’s what I did. I placed myself comfortably under the military bridge on Urdaneta Street, to protect myself from the “”, of course.Kataia«. And I picked up my phone. I immediately opened the Yummy Rides app and entered my destination. “Car or bike?” I asked myself. When I looked up, there was a lot of traffic, so I chose a motorcycle taxi. Faster.
What surprised me when paying the race fee was This was equivalent to just over 2 US dollars, or about 420 bolivars at the official exchange rate.There was nothing in my bank account. And how? Yes, the shopping I went to had a damaged finger on my hand, so I spent everything I had in the country’s currency. I just forgot.
“And now?” I cried. The thing is It is virtually impossible to sell for as little as 2 USDT on the Binance peer-to-peer (P2P) market. Most traders buy from 5 USDT. “Are you going to play with trucks?” (Bus) I said regretfully.
That’s when I remembered that Yummy allows you to pay with the world’s largest and most valuable stablecoin. So I moved on.
internal appAs soon as I selected Binance as my payment method, the exchange application opened in a window. The amount transferred to my home has been reflected.
After verifying your identity on Binance and a little confirmation on Yummy, That money was taken out of my wallet Deposited in transportation application. Fast, virtually instant and secure.
I paid for my trip directly in the Yummy app and it took less than 5 minutes for my motorized vehicle to arrive. And within 20 minutes we were home.
Are there any advantages to using USDT?
To find out more about the use of USDT to pay for remittance services in Venezuela, CriptoNoticias spoke to Alexis Lugo, a Venezuelan Bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency enthusiast.
According to Lugo, “USDT is a must-have tool.” For him, given the state of the economic crisis, “every Venezuelan should learn how to use stablecoins, whether they use it on Binance or in their own wallet.”
Daniel Arees, a Venezuelan economist specializing in cryptocurrencies, argues that integrations like Yummy Ride and Binance Pay “could work” in a situation like Venezuela. That would be “as long as it goes through the process of internationalizing prices.”
Lugo appreciates that Venezuela will have more options for using stablecoins through different mechanisms and products (such as Yummy Rides), but clarified that: I don’t like paying directly in USDT Because that would mean losing the possibility of arbitration.
In Venezuela, you have to take into account that the difference between the cost of USDT and the US dollar is about 50%. Stablecoins are not equivalent to dollars, but It is traded for up to 300 bolivars on platforms such as Binance. Meanwhile, the dollar fluctuates around 210 bolivars (at the exchange rate set by the Venezuelan Central Bank).
This means that there will be a favorable difference when exchanging USDT to bolivars, which is useful for the purpose of making purchases, in this case paying for services. the result, If you directly cancel this stablecoin, you will lose its economic benefits.
Lugo points out that there would be an “improvement” if, for example, Yummy Ride remittances were paid in USDT. “The truth is, it’s not a business. I’m not going to use USDT to pay Yummy through Binance Pay because I’m not using spreads,” he commented.
Mr. Araez thinks the same thing, explaining in a conversation with this information portal: It is also not practical to pay directly using the Tether Limited stablecoin.
He says that as long as it is more profitable to go to the secondary USDT market for the bolivar currency and pay for goods priced at the official exchange rate, “there will be an incentive not to use USDT natively.”
In any case, USDT is in Venezuela and has emerged as a novel and disruptive way for Venezuelans to protect themselves from inflation. Regarding storage and use, Stablecoins are already making space Its adoption in the Venezuelan community is increasing day by day.
(Tag translation) Cryptomonedas
