Latin America is Benefiting from Stablecoins

People in Colombia and Venezuela are turning to stablecoin, including Reserve, as means of utilizing stable currency. Cointelegraph shared their insights when they interviewed a number of these people using Reserve.

Reserve

Reserve is a solution that allows users to exchange fiat currency. Fiat currency that can be exchanged using Reserve includes the Venezuelan bolivares. People who want to exchange the Venezuelan bolivares can exchange it for the U.S. dollar through the Reserve stablecoin (RSV stablecoin).

Purchases on Reserve stablecoin

There are a variety of use cases holders of the coin purchase the RSV for. Some turn to the currency to send money to family and friends. Others use it for regular daily purchases. How people are using it is expanding. According to Reserve, more countries in Latin America are turning to Reserve for their payment needs. So far, the countries that are using RSV include Colombia, Venezuela, Panama, and Argentina. This is after Reserve has been on the market only for 12 months. Reserve also states that it has about 100,000 visitors to its app every week. It also says approximately 8000 merchants have started allowing payment via Reserve.

Perspective from Customers of Reserve

Two customers gave Cointelegraph their perspective on RSV. Alicia Stephany and Sasha Antunez shared their thoughts on how the application affected their day-to-day lives and the economy in their country, Venezuela. Antunez is a Venezuelan neurologist who utilizes Reserve for both her work and her home life. Stephany is a Venezuelan based in Colombia. She utilizes the service to send back financial support to her family that is still in her home country. Antunez said that has Reserve dollars available in her app. If she has to go make purchases at the supermarket and only has a bit of money, she does the exchange so that she has more funds in her national currency in her local bank account. From there she can use her bank funds to make a payment at the shops.

How do Most use Reserve currency

Most currency holders utilize RSV to hold their funds in a type of saving. If their employer pays them in their local currency, they do not have to be anxious about devaluation if their pay is in U.S. currency. Perhaps they decide that they want to make a purchase, they simply convert those funds to their local currency and make the necessary payment in RSV stablecoin if the seller allows it. If the seller does not allow that, they can convert their saved funds into a currency that the seller does accept.

Why is this Important?

People like Antunez usually have to bear with the ups and downs of the Venezuelan bolivar. To avoid losing the value of their hard-earned money, the stablecoin offers them the much-needed stability their national currency does not seem to always provide. In addition, if she travels to another neighboring country like Colombia, she can still find someone who wants extra funds to exchange with. Antunez even managed to convince her pharmacist and supermarket to begin to accept Reserve.

Changes by the Venezuelan Government

Venezuela’s government re-dominated its currency back in October. This was the third time that the government had decided to as of 2008. What this means is that when you go into a Venezuelan shop, you will find prices in dollars. The prices will be in line with the black market rate and not the official exchange rate. When people use RSV, they get better value for their money than they do with the black market rate.

With the financial freedom that cryptocurrency provides and the volatile hyperinflation in Venezuela and several other Latin American countries, it is clear to see that the solution that Reserve offers fills a much-needed gap.

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