At least 100,000 Cubans are reportedly utilising bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to get away from the difficult circumstances brought on by international sanctions, according to a report from NBC News.
In reaction to the heavy U.S. sanctions, Cuba is adopting bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. More than 100,000 Cubans are said to be using cryptocurrencies right now, due in large part to the three-year-old availability of mobile internet access. Nelson Rodriguez, the proprietor of a café in New York City, was interviewed by NBC because of his support of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
“I prefer crypto because I believe in the principle,” Rodriguez said when asked why he decided to adopt a new payment method.
Probably, when Rodriguez talks about “money sovereignty,” he’s talking about the concept that money should be owned by people who have earned it and that it shouldn’t be devalued. This set of ideas has run afoul of both the Cuban government and many of the international restrictions that nations like the United States have imposed on Cuba.
Sanctions prevent Cubans from using services like PayPal, Revolut, and Zelle, as well as many other widely recognised credit and debit cards throughout the world. Most major financial companies have been hit with multi-million dollar penalties for offering services to Cuban citizens.
As of April 27, Reuters reported that the Cuban central bank has approved bitcoin service providers awaiting receipt of a licence. Ex-Cuban economist Pavel Vidal, who is now a professor at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana Cali in Colombia, allegedly said,
As a result of the central bank’s decision to create a cryptocurrency-friendly legislative environment, the country’s economy will profit.
Alex Gladstein, Human Rights Foundation’s CSO, wrote an essay in which he discussed several of the issues that Cubans face. Gladstein spoke with Ricardo Herrero, the executive director of the Cuba Study Group, and a son of Cuban exiles, on the economic effect of sanctions on the Cuban people while writing the piece.
“The most stringent and sweeping sanctions policy targeting any civilization in the world,” Herrero said of the embargo against Cuba. People in Cuba are finally taking control of their own money.
Also Read: Belgium’s FSMA Needs New Crypto Firms to Register in May
