Bitcoin in Unstable Economies

For developing economies with unstable currencies, does Bitcoin add anything to their current currency situation? Many countries, for example, use black market US Dollars for transactions. It's not clear yet if these countries with limited technical infrastructure will see a win of Bitcoin vs. USD cash, at least in the short/medium term.Sure, BTC might win out of Argentinan Pesos, but it's certainly harder for the average merchant in Buenos Aires to accept and transact using BT

The point that you're missing is that there will always be Venezuelas and Zimbabwes, and Bitcoin, in its current form, serves as a baseline financial system that unfortunate citizens of failing states can fall back on. It has plenty of issues when it comes to buying coffee and small transactions, but perfect is the enemy of good and it has properties that make it much harder to censor than USD based services, which will just comply with the state.

Bitcoin is used by people in unstable countries.

Because the currency of that country is crazy risky. Same in Turkey. I've heard Venezuela people convert their money to BTC right away.Inflation is so crazy your $2 can be worth $1 in 24 hours.Bitcoin protects from those massive spikes. As bad as Bitcoin sounds it's perfect for them because now the corrupt governments can't take advantage of their citizenry.You could go with Ethereum or other crypto but those aren't really decentralized.

If you could please elaborate, for the free curious spirits of HN.Crypto has brought good in underdeveloped countries like Venezuela and Argentina. Venezuelans use USDT to purchase real, physical goods. Sometimes groceries.

I think many people are finding cross-border transactions to be the big draw for Bitcoin, especially in places like Venezuela. Ordinary people are using cryptocurrency to skirt government-imposed monetary controls. They don't care about the privacy angle and aren't trying to obtain illegal / harmful products.

I'm not sure if people in Venezuela would use Bitcoin if their economy wasn't so badCrypto volatility is high as well but because their own economy is even worse, crypto is a good solution (only till things get solved)

The article makes the point that Bitcoin could be viable in many countries where people already use foreign currencies because they don't trust their domestic currency.That's one of the few arguments for cryptocurrency that I find convincing, but I think it's a stronger argument for cryptocurrencies other than Bitcoin. The Bitcoin transaction fees are so high right now that it doesn't make sense to use it for small purchases, which really limits its usefulness for people i

this is one of the best use cases for crypto -- as a popular disciplining measure against governments that devalue their currency. see venezuela, nigeria, argentina... my sympathies are solely with the ordinary people who would otherwise watch their savings evaporate.

This is a privileged take.You should ask a censored Belarusian, a national currency deprived Venezuelan, or a Nigerian receiving a remittance from a family member about btc.You should ask an Argentinian, a Turk, or a Zimbabwean about currency debasement.