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DASH, the notorious privacy coin, is self funded, fast, decentralised and fully autonomous. It’s often hard to find a use value for such cryptocurrencies however very recently, DASH has dipped its toes into a very unique area, it seems that DASH could be the cure for hyperinflation, such as we are seeing in countries like Venezuela.

According to Investopedia:

“Hyperinflation is a macro-economic event that occurs as a result of a steep devaluation of a country’s currency that causes its citizens to lose confidence in it. When the currency is perceived as having little or no value, people begin to hoard commodities and goods that have value. As prices begin to rise, basic goods — such as food and fuel — become scarce, sending prices in an upward spiral. In response, the government is forced to print even more money to try to stabilize prices and provide liquidity, which only exacerbates the problem.”

This is exactly what we are seeing happen with DASH at the moment. Because the Venezuelan Bolivar is crashing under hyperinflation, citizens have lost confidence in the currency (despite it recently being backed by the new and controversial Petro cryptocurrency ). As a result of this, many people are turning to commodities that have value in order to try and save some of their assets. DASH, looks to be the commodity of choice in Venezuela and we think we know why.

Value of the Venezuelan Bolivar against USD as of Wednesday 22nd August 2018, sitting at 0.0000040 USD : 1 Bolivar.

If you’re not fully up to scratch with what is going on in Venezuela, read our recent coverage of the Petro saga -

Crypto Daily - An Update on Venezuela's Petro

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According to Coindesk, this is a sentiment that Ryan Taylor the CEO of Dash Core Group agrees with. Taylor has discussed how DASH is seeing a big adoption in countries that are suffering from hyperinflation. In order to get hold of some DASH, you just need access to a mobile phone, therefore it’s a pretty attractive commodity to buy in to when everything else around you only seems to be reducing in value.

WIthin Venezuela specifically, DASH and the Dash project has always had a big presence. The Dash Core Group have been involved in a number of projects that are helping to spread the word of DASH to drive adoption and to try and give people over there access to an alternative currency, one that can hold value. Some of their work even includes giving away free DASH to people in places such as Venezuela, so it’s probably only natural that locals turn to DASH in a time of crisis.

Importantly, according to Coindesk:

“Other blockchain projects have used similar tactics in developing countries. Some have rewarded locals for recruiting new users, such as the South African startup Wala, or worked with crypto exchanges to increase access, like the startup behind zcash did by partnering with AirTM exchange in Latin America. The Ethereum Foundation funds one-off research projects. Some bitcoin projects are donating crypto to groups in the developing world. But dash is doing all of the above, and starting to get some results. Take, for example, Venezuela, where according to the Dash Core Group, hundreds of merchants are now transacting with dash, thanks to local advocacy programs. These ambassadors literally walk up to Venezuelan businessmen and convince them to start using dash.”

Two key things have happened that prove DASH is seeing a surge in Venezuela, and it’s got to be as a result of the crash of the Bolivar, it’s too much of a coincidence not to be. According to Cointelegraph, Taylor has said:

“Earlier this year, Venezuela became our number two market even ahead of China and Russia, which are of course huge into cryptocurrency right now.”

Moreover, Taylor added:

“We’ve seen 94 new Venezuelan merchants added to DiscoverDash.com since last week, which is about double the normal rate of about 50 merchants per week [over] the last couple of months.”

A small majority of DASH’s trading volume is coming out of Venezuela, and, new merchants are being added to the Discover Dash directory, a website that allows businesses to list themselves as ‘accepting DASH payments’. Up to 50 merchants per week.

Of course, the Dash project will be pleased that the DASH currency is being utilised in this way, though I suppose it’s a salty victory, as it is off the back of an economic and financial crisis. In a sentiment that is no doubt reflected by the Dash community, we do hope that things in Venezuela level out soon enough, the government need to take control of this, otherwise if things drive any deeper, not even DASH will be enough to help them.

In other news, trading platform Cobinhood have recently announced that they have added DASH to their platform. As of yesterday, DASH has been added to Cobinhood for both deposits and withdrawals and trading against Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether.

You may wonder why this listing was so sudden (nobody really expected it just yet) however, there’s a good reason for it, as according to the official Cobinhood announcement:

“COBINHOOD sincerely invites token-issuing companies to join the even more reliable INSTANT LISTING program. What makes our service unique is our speed. Our smart Instant Listing is the easiest way to get ERC20 tokens listed on COBINHOOD Exchange in as quick as a 1 day. You can be listed on COBINHOOD, a global zero trading fees exchange, instantly through a smart contract, which makes the token listing process transparent and fast.”

Investopedia - Hyperinflation

Coindesk - Dash Core Group

Cointelegraph - Dash Surge in Venezuela

Cobinhood Announcement