Binance Latam Lists Bolívar Amid Venezuela Struggling National Economy

On April 16, major cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, announced that they are listing the Venezuelan Bolívar (VES) in their peer-to-peer trading platform against BTC, USDT, ETH, BNB, BUSD, and EOS, with no fees attached.

Exchange customers can now search for local P2P merchants who have stable cryptocurrency sources and trade them for VES. According to Binance, there are no security deposits and zero transaction fees.

In recent years, Venezuela has dealt with numerous economic and political crises. These have involved measures taken by the government to control the circulation of foreign currencies in the country.

As a currency, the Bolívar has been heavily devalued, and is now showing a conversion exchange of 121.653 VES per $1. VES’ inflation rate remains at 9585.50% as of press time.

VES trading volume hitting fresh all-time highs at the end of 2019

Speaking with Cointelegraph, Mariangel García, Marketing and Community Manager for Binance in Latin America, praised the announcement, noting that Venezuela is joining Colombia, Peru, Mexico, and Argentina in the P2P trading platform. She issued the following comments:

“We are pleased, as the Venezuelan public has been extremely receptive, we have a great community in the country, and we are delighted with the support for our P2P platform. We will continue working to make the user experience a very rewarding and safe one.”

Bolivars volume hit an all-time high in December, according to data from Coin Dance, as reported by Cointelegraph.

During the month, Venezuelans traded almost 637 BTC, worth around 205 billion bolivars at press time ($4.4 million). Another representative at Binance in Latin America highlighted the global growth within bigger markets:

“Our motivation is to make the largest crypto ecosystem in the world and that our services are available throughout the planet, that's why we are expanding to Venezuela and other countries. (…) Venezuela is an extremely strong market for cryptocurrencies in Latin America, but as previously mentioned, we have also opened market options for other countries in the region, to increase the inclusion and adoption of cryptocurrencies in the continent through a reliable and quality service.”

Latin America’s ongoing portfolio expansion

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, García stated that on-site meetups are being halted until the situation passes. These were aiming to promote VES’ listing across Venezuela. In the meantime, virtual meet-ups will be held in their place.

Regarding the primary motivations behind the VES listing on Binance, Mariangel stated the following:

“Basically Binance’s vision and mission, we work very hard to bring financial freedom to many people. Our mission is to build a global ecosystem, so we are focused on adding more fiat currencies. Venezuela is no exception, we are pleased to satisfy our community, and we want more countries to enjoy our services.”

García told Cointelegraph that hopefully, their Latin American users would receive more news regarding its expansion plans soon.