Latin America

OK, lets look outside the bubble (no, not the one bitcoin is in-or not) that we live in here in the US. Hard to believe, but there IS another world across our borders. I say this because all the chatter about "bubbles", and in particular bitcoin, center around what we hear/see/share in our "sheltered" country. Since we have not experienced hyperinflation (close in the 70's), military coups, wars on our ground, etc we overlook the HUGE demand for bitcoin coming from places like Latin America (Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil). Not to even mention Africa. So, even we don't "see" and totally understand the demand for bitcoin the rest of the world does. Remember, cryptocurrencies just go on your smart phone thus eliminating the need for sticking gold bars under your clothes to get on a plane. Its a VERY big world out there.

(Bill Taylor/CEO)


The Venezuelan bolivar, Carlos Mosquera Benatuil will begrudgingly admit, is a “real” currency. Bitcoin isn’t—it’s basically just a very long line of computer code. Yet there’s no question which the 35-year-old Caracas native prefers.

Mosquera is one of Latin America’s many bitcoin believers, scarred by the hyperinflation that’s ravaged the economies of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and now Venezuela. The region’s tech-savvy middle class, he says, began adopting bitcoin a few years ago to protect their savings from rising consumer prices and currency controls. Now, Latin America’s wealthiest investors want in on the action. The growing interest from them could help propel investments in the currency going forward.

At least two cryptocurrency funds catering specifically to this set opened in 2017 as demand for digital assets in the region grows. Family offices make up the great majority of the funds’ clients, according to recent interviews with the funds’ founders. “Latin America is very volatile,” says Rome-based Mosquera, whose hedge fund, Solidus Capital, invests in the eight biggest cryptocurrencies and digital assets sold via initial coin offerings. (He won’t disclose the size of the fund or its performance.) “Cryptos are turning into a new haven for these families.”...


Full Story at Bloomberg.com