Venezuelan Crypto-Friendly Freelancing Platform Emerges Amid Economic Crisis, US Sanctions

More cryptocurrency solutions keep appearing on the scene for Venezuelan residents as U.S. sanctions weigh on Nicolás Maduro’s government, including heavy restrictions on the circulation of foreign exchange transactions, driving people to find on crypto a way to circumvent such hurdles and the economic crisis.

Venezuelan Freelancers Find Ways to Circumvent U.S. Sanctions by Using Crypto

Venezuela Workers, a Venezuelan freelancing platform, had emerged to connect local freelancers with global employers who are seeking to pursue some project or performing a specific task.

But the platform is the first-of-its-kind in the country, as all the payments are made via cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin (BTC) and bitcoin cash (BCH).

According to their website, the major purpose of launching this platform is to help Venezuelan freelancers to deal with the ongoing economic crisis, which has driven Venezuela’s national currency, bolivar, to have a strong depreciation since several years ago due to hyperinflation.

With the Venezuela-based freelancing platform, Venezuela Workers expects to connect local freelancers with “major companies” worldwide.

If a firm wants to hire a Venezuelan worker through Venezuela Workers, but they don’t have BTC or BCH to arrange the payment, the platform allows exchanging other cryptos through a third-party site.

Chainalysis: Venezuela Is an “Excellent Example” of Crypto Adoption

Venezuela is among the key players in the Latin American crypto industry in terms of adoption. A study published by Chainalysis on September 8, 2020, described the country as an “excellent example” of crypto adoption within emerging countries as a means to mitigate the economic crisis. They stated:

Our data shows that Venezuelans use cryptocurrency more when the country’s native fiat currency is losing value to inflation, suggesting that Venezuelans turn to cryptocurrency to preserve savings they may otherwise lose.

Venezuelan freelancers have also been facing additional struggles to handle crypto peer-to-peer (P2P) payments. Paxful announced the shutting down of its operations in Venezuela back on September 16, 2020, to comply with the U.S. economic sanctions against the Maduro administration.

According to the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions, U.S. citizens are prohibited from doing business with the Venezuelan government or government-owned businesses, among other restrictions.