A single satoshi, or one one-hundred-millionth of a bitcoin, is now worth nearly six Venezuelan bolivars – according to the ‘official’ rate.
Not Worth the Paper It’s Printed On
Unlike physical money or digital fiat, a bitcoin can be divided into much smaller fractions. The smallest possible unit, called a ‘satoshi,’ is 0.00000001 BTC, or one one-hundred-millionth, of a single bitcoin.
Now – just seven months after the satoshi reached parity with the bolivar – Bitcoin’s smallest possible unit is worth nearly six bolivars (VEF), according to Google’s official exchange rate.
The actual exchange rate in Venezuela, however, is difficult to pinpoint. The South American country’s central bank, Banco Central de Venezuela, has become an unreliable source of information following the dramatic inflation which has decimated the nation’s economy.
In fact, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently criticized Venezuela for not disclosing its economic data and has estimated that the nation’s inflation could exceed 13,000 percent this year. At the same time, the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics puts Venezuela’s annual inflation rate, as of last month, at 7849 percent.
The depreciation of Venezuela’s official currency is staggering, and using wheelbarrows full of cash to buy everyday goods has become commonplace for many of the country’s citizens.
Official Rates Don’t Tell The Real Story
Bitcoinist has been regularly covering the adoption of Bitcoin in Venezuela, which has seen an increased interest in the world’s dominant cryptocurrency following the country’s failed socialist policies and capital controls.
Now, interest in the country is so strong that volume on the peer-to-peer trading platform LocalBitcoin keeps setting new records on a weekly basis. Over 3,870,000,000,000 VEF in bitcoin was traded last week on LocalBitcoins, alone.
Though the actual exchange rate in Venezuela is difficult to verify, there are several resources available which may help one get a better idea of the actual bitcoin to bolivar conversion. Moneyexchangerate.org, for example, provides a higher rate of 5.97 VEF per satoshi.
Even larger discrepancies emerge when considering that the ‘official price‘ is 590,000,000 VEF/BTC, while the best offer currently on LocalBitcoins is 11,050,000,000 VEF/BTC — or nearly double.
Thus, it’s possible to conclude that the actual street price per satoshi is somewhere between 10-12 VEF, if not higher. Some users on Reddit have even positioned prices well into the three-figure territory.
Nevertheless, with the price of a single satoshi quickly eclipsing figures upwards of 5 VEF, the adoption of bitcoin as a flight to safety against ‘wheelbarrow inflation’ is only expected to accelerate within Venezuela.
Will bitcoin adoption in Venezuela continue to surge as the bolivar collapses? Share your thoughts below!
Images courtesy of Shutterstock, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics/AirTM, CoinDance
