Usually these money transfers are made through
debit cards in the local currency. But humanitarian
groups are also starting to look at cryptocurrency.
“It’s harder for someone to steal
cryptocurrency,” said Hugh Aprile, the
Colombia country director for Mercy Corps, a
nonprofit that has handed out debit cards to
7,000 Venezuelan refugees. “And in situations
where you have high inflation, it can ensure the
stability of the funds being transferred.”
But aid programs that distribute cryptocurrency
also face several challenges.
In Venezuela, power cuts, like the one that
recently left much of the country in the dark for
days, knock out the internet connection needed
to use cryptocurrency. And connections for
many are iffy even when there is power.
A tightly controlled currency system that
punishes financial crimes with jail time has
also discouraged some merchants from
accepting cryptocurrency.
“Merchants who accept crypto and are public
about it risk being inspected by the government,”
said Randy Brito, the founder of Bitcoin
Venezuela, a cryptocurrency education group.
Poverty is another barrier. Ariany Jaimes, a
social worker who recruited participants for
GiveCrypto’s project in Barquisimeto, said
she had to keep some of the neediest people
out of the program because they didn’t own
smartphones with modern operating systems.
“We realize that this technology is not going
to become widespread overnight,” Jaimes said.
“But I do hope that these programs continue,
because they make our life a little easier.”Image: Manuel Rueda