[NEWS] Venezuela blocks access to Binance

Following Venezuela's presidential election on July 28, Venezuelan authorities announced that Nicolas Maduro had been re-elected.

In response, opposition leaders published a website with a detailed election report. In the opposition report, opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez was declared the winner.

The uncertainty of the election results has caused anxiety and protests across the country. Maduro took the step of arresting protesters and blocking access to cryptocurrency exchange Binance through local telecommunications company CANTV.

Blocked websites included Binance, as well as social media sites such as X, encrypted communication tools such as Signal, and e-commerce platforms such as MercadoLibre.

According to Venezuelan cybersecurity company VE Sin Filtro, this particular block began on the night of August 9.

Binance's impact on the Venezuelan market is bigger than speculative cryptocurrency trading. The majority of peer-to-peer trading operations in Venezuela are conducted through Binance.

This is due to the dramatic fall of the Venezuelan currency, the bolivar. As a result, the Venezuelan market is seeing a rise in demand for dollars.

It has been driving demand for various stablecoins as well as Bitcoin (BTC) among Venezuelans, who have used Binance as their primary trading platform for years.

Binance is essential in Venezuela 

Following the recent censorship, Binance staff sent an email to all Venezuelan users, claiming that funds stored there are safe. In a post on X, Binance said,

"Binance pages, like several websites of companies from different sectors in Venezuela, including social networks, are facing access restrictions only in Venezuela. We would like to inform you that your funds are safe under our security protocols." 

It remains to be seen how long the block will last and whether private internet providers will have to comply.

Various Venezuelan users have expressed their concerns to X about the matter, citing the importance of the platform to the stability of the local economy and even the local currency.

Time will tell us more than enough how political instability will affect access to the cryptocurrency market.

Reference: CANTV
Image: Shutterstock

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