One of the countries with the highest adoption of cryptocurrencies remains Venezuela. The economic uncertainties caused by the sanctions from the United States forced a lot of people in Venezuela to turn to cryptocurrencies as a way to protect their wealth against inflation. The country also launched its own cryptocurrency in February 2018, the Petro. However, cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are also popular in the country.
It is sometimes tough to understand how to buy cryptocurrencies. We have included the various ways and places where you can buy cryptocurrency in Venezuela.
There are two main places to buy cryptocurrencies; from a crypto exchange or a broker. When you choose cryptocurrency exchanges, you will be buying and holding the actual coins. This implies that you will get hold of the real coins or tokens, have the ability to send them to other people, use them to pay for goods and services or store them in external wallets.
However, you will be relinquishing most of these rights if you decide to buy cryptos from a broker. A broker only allows you to invest in cryptocurrencies via CFDs (contract for differences). This means that the broker is granting you the exposure to the coins, but you are not dealing with the actual coins. You will enjoy the profits that come with the price movement of the assets without thinking about storing them or using them for other purposes.
Since there are numerous exchanges and brokers offering services to investors, it sometimes becomes tough to find the best ones. However, we have done the research and chosen the top brokers and exchanges that sell cryptos in Venezuela.
For traders and investors, especially those coming into the cryptocurrency market for the first time, it can be tough trying to buy cryptocurrencies. The following steps break down the process of buying/selling cryptocurrencies.
A large number of exchanges and brokers available to traders and investors makes it confusing for anyone to find the best ones. However, these platforms differ in the trading services and features they offer to their customers.
If you intend to be a long-term investor in a cryptocurrency project, you should turn your attention to crypto exchanges. The exchanges allow you to buy real coins and store them in external wallets for safekeeping. However, brokers enable you to enjoy a quick, hassle-free trade.
It is best to use regulated crypto brokers or exchanges. The unregulated ones might entice you with lower fees or other benefits, but the risks of losing your funds on those platforms are higher. For the safety of your cryptocurrency investment, ensure you trade with a regulated crypto broker or exchange.
Once you have decided on the exchange or broker of your choice, you can open a trading account with them using their official website. These platforms allow you to open an account using an email address or a phone number. However, you will need to provide further details once your account is successfully opened.
Since we recommend using regulated brokers and exchanges, these platforms require their users to complete a Know Your Customer (KYC) process before they can buy cryptocurrencies. This involves submitting relevant documents to confirm a user’s identity. Some of the required KYC documents include a copy of your photo ID (such as a passport) and also proof of address (documents like a bank statement or utility bills) and a selfie.
These platforms adopt the AML and KYC processes because they want to ensure the safety of your crypto investment and your personal data. The KYC and AML protocols have made it tough for criminals and fraudsters to impersonate other people and steal or launder money. It is a positive thing that KYC and AML are becoming popular in the cryptocurrency market since they are already present in other financial markets such as stocks, forex and commodities.
After going through the account verification process, you can start buying cryptocurrencies from the platforms. However, you will need funds in your trading account to buy your preferred cryptocurrencies.
Venezuelans can fund their exchange or brokerage account using a wide range of payment options available. Some of the popular ones include credit/debit cards and bank transfers. You can also use cash payments when you trade on peer-to-peer exchanges.
However, before you settle for an exchange or a broker, go through their services to confirm if they support your preferred payment method. The payment option is one of the key services users look out for when analysing and selecting a platform.
After funding your trading account, you can buy the various cryptos available on the exchange or brokerage platforms. When you trade with brokers, you are investing in the coins via derivatives like CFDs or futures. These are investment vehicles designed to enable you to bet on the price performance of various cryptocurrencies without holding the underlying coins.
When you use cryptocurrency exchanges, you will buy and hold the actual tokens and coins. This gives you more options to use the coins as you can store them or send them to other people. There are certain exchanges like Binance that allow traders to access coins and tokens as derivatives. Meanwhile, we have brokers like eToro that support buying actual cryptocurrencies.
Once you have bought your preferred cryptocurrencies, there are other activities you can do to boost your investment or secure the coins. Some of these actions include;
Store in an external wallet: You can store the cryptocurrencies in external wallets to ensure they are safe at all times.
Staking: If you bought a Proof of Stake cryptocurrency or a DeFi token, you could stake them via supported wallets and exchanges. This allows you to earn more profits on your cryptocurrency investment.
You can leverage derivatives to hedge your cryptocurrency investment, giving you the opportunity to earn more profits.
If you are interested in the activities of a crypto network, you can use your coins or tokens for voting. This allows you to take part in the governance of the cryptocurrency network.
Venezuelans can fund their exchange or brokerage account using various payment methods. The payment method you choose is dependent on your level of convenience and other factors like speed of transaction and fees.
Venezuelans get to enjoy a wide range of payment options on exchanges and brokerages platforms, including;
Buy Cryptocurrency with Cash: You can use the Bolivar to buy cryptocurrencies on peer-to-peer exchanges.
Buy Cryptocurrencies with Credit Card: Credit and debit cards are perhaps the most widely used options since the funds arrive in your account almost instantly. However, you have to contend with high deposit fees when you use this option.
Buy Cryptocurrency with Bank Transfer: Some exchanges and brokers allow you to fund your account using bank transfers. While you will enjoy low fees, the transaction could take days to complete.
Buy Cryptocurrency with Bitcoin: You can also buy cryptocurrencies using Bitcoin.
People have different reasons for buying cryptocurrencies. One of the main reasons to buy cryptos is to invest in the projects and earn money from the investments over time. Over the past decade, cryptocurrencies have become a strong asset class that provides investment opportunities to millions of people globally.
The price-performance of cryptocurrencies has convinced thousands of people to join the market. Ether (ETH), the second-largest crypto by market cap, has experienced a massive increase in price this year. At the start of 2021, Ether (ETH) was trading at $722 per coin. However, it surged by over 500% to reach its all-time high at $4,297 on 11 May 2021.
Another reason people buy cryptocurrencies is to use them to facilitate cross-border payments. Sending money to people living outside your country is hard when you are using the traditional financial system. Sometimes it takes days for the transactions to be completed, and you will end up paying huge fees. All these problems are eliminated with cryptocurrencies. You can send funds to people outside your country instantly using cryptocurrencies and for a fraction of what you will pay as fees when using traditional banking. The ease, speed and affordability of cross-border transactions with cryptos is an attractive option for millions of people globally.
You can also use cryptocurrencies to pay for goods and services online and offline. Many retailers and businesses are accepting cryptocurrencies as a mode of payment for their goods and services. Hence, you can buy cryptos and use them to pay for goods and services with ease.
Buying cryptocurrencies is legal in Venezuela, learn more about taxation in our Venezuela tax guide. Traders and investors don’t have any restrictions regarding cryptocurrency investments. The fact that the Petro coin was developed by the government shows the level of crypto adoption in the country.
To ensure the safety of your crypto investment, we always advise buying or trading cryptocurrencies on regulated brokerage platforms and exchanges. By doing so, you get to secure your investment and avoid losing your funds to scam platforms and hackers.
Venezuela is one of the countries with high adoption of cryptocurrencies. You can use bitcoins to pay for food at all Pizza Hut locations in Venezuela. Other places in Venezuela that accept cryptocurrencies include Burger King, Intercontinental Hotel, Traki and some other leading stores. There is only one Bitcoin ATM in Venezuela at the moment, and it is located in Caracas. You can use the ATM to buy and sell bitcoins. You can also use it to transfer funds to people in other parts of the world.
We wanted to make it easy for you to buy cryptocurrencies from the best and most trusted trading platforms in Venezuela. This is why we spent countless hours researching the best ways to buy cryptocurrencies in Venezuela. Our research led us to compile a list of the best cryptocurrency trading platforms in Venezuela. Below is our choice for the most secure, convenient and reliable way to buy cryptos in Venezuela