Bitcoin in Cuba: Why some Cubans are adopting BTC to escape ‘The Matrix’
Bitcoin adoption could swell in Cuba, particularly if private businesses understand the upside to accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as currency. That’s according to a Cuban businessperson and Bitcoin advocate, Erich Garcia Cruz.
A recent emigrant to the United States, Cruz is a vocal proponent of Bitcoin adoption in Cuba. Cruz leads the remittance and money transfer services BitRemesas and QvaPay and has been outspoken in his support for his countrymen using Bitcoin since 2020.
In an interview with Cointelegraph as part of an upcoming documentary, Cruz explained that Cubans can use Bitcoin “as a tool.”
While some Cubans use Bitcoin as a store of value, a means of exchange, or a remittance tool, ultimately it’s about getting “out from the Matrix,” he explained. Cruz referred to the country’s centrally planned, and officially communist, economy.
There is no independent press in Cuba, while the historic United States trade embargo makes it very hard for Cubans to access American products, services, and even applications. Bitcoin is money independent of the state and has no leader or central party.
Cruz explained that during a visit to El Salvador in 2022, one of his friends asked “How do you teach about Bitcoin in Cuba if Cuba is run by a communist party?” Surely the party would be against Bitcoin?
Cruz hints that the government may already have an understanding of how Bitcoin works, and maybe, “They can bypass some sanctions worldwide” using internet-based money.
Plus, since 2021 the government has been warming up to cryptocurrencies: private businesses can legally accept cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin for goods and services. Cruz explains that more and more private businesses should accept cryptocurrency instead of the Cuban
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