USD Tether (USDT), the US dollar stablecoin issued by the company Tether Limited, has earned a place in the Venezuelan economy, which has begun to see this asset as an alternative in the absence of physical banknotes and the persistent economic crisis.
Beyond the use of USDT as a store of value in a highly inflationary economy, this currency has had a notable role in use as a payment method for products and services.
Through native applications of that South American country, along with integrations with the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, Binance, The use of USDT to pay has gone viral in Venezuela.
An exemplary case is that of supermarkets. In a previous installment, we told you how the USDT + Cashea formula (the country’s main credit and debt company) is used to avoid inflation and make the necessary purchases for about 1 month.
Now, it turns out that taking a taxi, which is customary in a city as turbulent as Caracas, It can also be done by paying with USDT.
It all starts at Yummy Rides. Yes, the “Venezuelan Uber.” This is a transportation company launched in 2020, created by businessman Vicente Zavarce. It is an appendix of Yummy, a app dedicated to food marketing.
This application, which is used to take taxis, motorcycle taxis, send parcels, request mechanical support, among other services, enabled payments with stablecoins for more than two years with USDT through Binance Pay, the arm of the exchange that streamlines cryptocurrency payments within its platform.
Paying with USDT
I tried this integration. The need and fatigue of a busy day made me experience firsthand how the new economy has come to stay in my country, where The crisis is common and is the order of the day.
Under an inclement sun, one of those that «they burn the coconut«, I was walking through the streets of La Hoyada, in the heart of the city. It was rush hour, so Choosing public transportation was the wrong decision. It’s simple: they can’t cope and, literally, it becomes an ordeal to board one of those units when Caracas is in full swing.
With my hands sore from the weight of the bags that I also carried with me, and beads of sweat running down my forehead, I said to myself: «I better order a Yummy«.
That’s what I did. I placed myself comfortably under the Armed Forces bridge, on Urdaneta Avenue, of course, to cover myself from the «catire«. And I took my phone. Right away, I opened the Yummy Rides app and entered my destination. “Car or motorcycle?” I asked myself. I looked up, saw the heavy traffic, and chose a motorcycle taxi. Faster.
What was my surprise when, at the time of paying for the race, which was valued at just over USD 2, or about 420 bolivars at the official exchange rateI had nothing in my bank account. And how? Yes, in the purchase I made, and the fingers of my hands were damaged, I spent everything I had in national currency. I just forgot.
“And now?” I exclaimed. The thing is making a sale on the Binance peer-to-peer (P2P) market for just 2 USDT is practically impossible. Most traders buy from 5 USDT. “Will it play truck?” (bus), I said regretfully.
Then, I remembered that Yummy allows you to pay with that stablecoin, which is the largest and most valuable in the world. So I proceeded.
Inside the appI chose Binance as the payment method and, immediately, the exchange application opened with a window where the amount of the transfer to my house was reflected.
After verifying my identity on Binance and after a short confirmation time on Yummy, the money had been debited from my wallet and was deposited in the transport application. Fast, practically immediate and secure.
I proceeded to pay for the trip directly in the Yummy app, I waited less than five minutes for the motorized vehicle to arrive and, in less than 20 minutes, I arrived home.
Is using USDT an advantage?
To delve more into the use of USDT to pay for a transfer service in Venezuela, CriptoNoticias spoke with Alexis Lugo, a Venezuelan bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrency enthusiast.
According to Lugo, “USDT is a tool that must be used.” For him, given the economic crisis situation, “all Venezuelans should learn to use stablecoins, whether they use it with Binance or with their own wallet.”
For his part, Daniel Arráez, a Venezuelan economist specialized in cryptocurrencies, maintains that, although integrations such as Yummy Rides and Binance Pay “can work” in a situation like the Venezuelan one, It will be “as long as it goes through a process of internationalization of prices.”
Lugo, although he appreciates that there are more options to use stablecoins in Venezuela, through different mechanisms and products (such as Yummy Rides), clarifies that is not a fan of paying directly with USDT “because it means losing the possibility of arbitration.”
It must be taken into account that, in Venezuela, the differential between the cost of USDT and the US dollar is around 50%. The stablecoin, which is not equal to the greenback, It is traded at up to 300 bolivars on platforms such as Binance. The dollar, meanwhile, is fluctuating around 210 bolivars (at the exchange rate established by the Central Bank of Venezuela).
This means that, when exchanging USDT for bolivars, there is a differential in favor, which is convenient for the purposes of making purchases or, in this case, paying for services. Consequently, By canceling with this stablecoin directly, that financial benefit is lost.
Lugo points out that there is a “improvement” if, for example, transfers on Yummy Rides are paid with USDT. «The truth is that it is not business. I would not use my USDT to pay through Binance Pay to Yummy, because I am not taking advantage of the spread,” he comments.
Arraéz thinks something similar, who, in dialogue with this information portal, explains that It is also not feasible to pay directly with the Tether Limited stablecoin.
He states that, as long as it is more profitable to go to secondary USDT markets for bolivars and pay for products priced at the official exchange rate, “the incentive will be not to use USDT natively.”
Whatever the case, USDT is in Venezuela and arrived as a novel and disruptive way for Venezuelans to protect themselves from inflation. For safekeeping and use, the stablecoin has already made a space in the Venezuelan community, and its adoption grows more every day.