The Venezuelan bolivar, Carlos Mosquera Benatuil will begrudgingly admit, is a “real” currency. Bitcoin isn’t—it’s basically just a very long line of computer code. Yet there’s no question which the 35-year-old Caracas native prefers.
Mosquera is one of Latin America’s many bitcoin believers, scarred by the hyperinflation that’s ravaged the economies of Brazil, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, and now Venezuela. The region’s tech-savvy middle class, he says, began adopting bitcoin a few years ago to protect their savings from rising consumer prices and currency controls. Now, Latin America’s wealthiest investors want in on the action. The growing interest from them could help propel investments in the currency going forward.