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- Venezuelan exchange Criptolago announced the launch of a service that supports the crypto transactions through text messages.
- Completely eradicating the problems related to poor internet services for Venezuelans in making payments with crypto.
- The platform had previously partnered with Venezuelan crypto payment processor Glufco, before the launch of an option for making offline payments.
On April 6, 2020, the Venezuelan exchange Criptolago announced the launch of a service that supports the crypto transactions through text messages, eliminating the requirement of internet connection. Thus, completely eradicating the problems related to poor internet services for Venezuelans in making payments with crypto.
https://twitter.com/criptolago/status/1246868259669979137
Criptolago is possibly Venezuela’s most proficient platform when it comes to offering advanced solutions for the promotion of the use of cryptocurrencies in the country. The platform had previously partnered with Venezuelan crypto payment processor Glufco, before the launch of an option for making offline payments, to offer its clients points of sale to allow them to process crypto payments with a card such as the debit or credit cards.
Poor Internet Won’t Affect Crypto Trading in Venezuela
Poor internet service will no longer be an obstacle for Venezuelans to pay with crypto. The Venezuelan exchange Criptolago announced earlier this week the launch of a facility that processes crypto transactions via a text message—no Internet connection required.
The initiative was a result of the call by President Nicolas Maduro. He urged the companies to develop payment mechanisms such that they are parallel to the traditional banking system, emphasizing the need for the creation of offline payment systems compatible with the new Petro cryptocurrency, according to the exchange.
However, it is worth noting that the exchange has enabled offline transactions for not just Petro but all tokens listed on its platform, including Bitcoin, Litecoin, Dash, and Glufco. Therefore, Venezuelans can now send these tokens without requiring an internet connection. Also, the platform has empowered a module for transactions in Bolivars, the national fiat currency.
As of now, the service is made available only for the registered users, but the process of onboarding reported to remain secure. However, the major problem Venezuelans might face the difficulty of finding an agreeable rate for their Petros.
The instability of the real price of the token can’t be unseen, which makes it tough for it to work as a practical method of exchange. As an instance, although the official government sources say that the Petro is worth $58.9 per token, earlier on April 1, it was traded for around $11.50 on the local Amberes crypto exchange. According to the news portal Morocota Coin, on Criptolago, the Petro reached $20 per token that same day.
Use Of Crypto In Venezuela
Much before Criptolago was launched, Venezuelans have been sending cryptocurrencies since the year 2018 with text messages. The most popular solution currently is Dash Text, an offline wallet.
According to Dash, at current, there are more than 8,000 active and enabled portfolios in the United States, Colombia, Spain, Brazil, and Venezuela. Users are required to send only a text message. The Dash Text platform processes transaction.
Even so, this initiative is promising; there is a long path to go before offline payments become mainstream. Since January 2019, Dash Text reported around 6,456 offline transactions, amongst which, the vast majority (6,105) was from Venezuela alone.
Ernesto Contreras, head of business development of Dash, was heard reporting to Decrypt that Dash receives an average of four offline transactions per day, an abrupt drop from more than 30 per day before the mid-March market crash.
Also, he said that the drop in the price of Dash had caused fewer people to want to spend. They also said that they were out of funds for two months due to which could not continue a few activities they had in the process. They were funded again in February, which raised the bar to 300 transactions making it ten a day. However, the coronavirus crisis in March led to its halt.
Cryptolago’s development could yield positive results, despite it not yet having shared usage statistics. Offline crypto payments could prove to be a boon in a country like Venezuela, where there is an unstable internet connection and hyper-devaluation of its national currency.
Steve Anderson is an Australian crypto enthusiast. He is a specialist in management and trading for over 5 years. Steve has worked as a crypto trader, he loves learning about decentralisation, understanding the true potential of the blockchain.
