Leopoldo Lopez Hails Crypto as Anti-Censorship Tool

A Venezuelan opposition figure, Leopoldo Lopez, praised crypto as a tool to surmount censorship and addressed its dependency on corrupt banks.

As Venezuela grapples with a humanitarian crisis, crypto has become an indispensable instrument for many Venezuelans seeking to preserve their savings. The Bolivar (VES), the official currency of Venezuela, has lost value concurrently.

Leopoldo Lopez, the founder of the Venezuelan political party Voluntad Popular and a close associate of Venezuela’s most prominent opposition leader, Juan Guaido, stated in an interview with Chainalysis that cryptocurrencies, particularly stablecoins, assisted Venezuelans in overcoming inflation rates that averaged 3634 percent between 1973 and 2023.

Lopez acknowledged that cryptocurrencies played a crucial role for Venezuelans throughout the COVID crisis in 2020.

Given that the Maduro regime previously refused financial aid on political grounds, this payment method was the only way to receive international assistance.

As the Maduro government controls the entire financial system in Venezuela, the dictatorship continues to restrict crypto utilization.

To circumvent this issue, the interim government, commanded by Guaidó, devised a plan to distribute international aid in crypto between trusted individuals based on the application of KYC checks.

This program has directly benefited 65,000 physicians and nurses, according to Lopez. It is unclear, however, whether the funds were utilized for their intended purpose.

Although crypto played a role in aid programs, the actual value of digital currencies for supporting democracy movements will not be unleashed until “off-ramping is completely independent of the autocratic regime,” as Lopez emphasized.