The U.S federal reserve is set to increase interest rates by a quarter of percentage. This is likely to have an impact on the economies of most developing countries. That’s because most of them had taken advantage of the low rates environment of the last few years to borrow heavily in the international markets, backed by strong local currencies. But now that the U.S dollar is set to get stronger, many of these nations will be faced with higher debt repayment bills relative to their domestic incomes. The solution will be in currency devaluations, and as this happens, weak economies will be faced with hyperinflation that will make their currencies pretty much worthless. The situation will be worsened by the increased disruption of the international order. The reemergence of tariff barriers means that most countries will find it hard to export, especially to countries like the U.S. In such an environment, what options do citizens of nations under the threat of hyperinflation have?
Looking at the trends in the last couple of years, there is a good chance that people will look more towards cryptocurrencies. When Zimbabwe was going through hyperinflation, the demand for bitcoin rose sharply in that country. At some point in 2017, Bitcoin (BTC) was trading at upwards of $25000 in this country. Similar scenarios have played out in other countries as well. Over the last couple of months, the Venezuelan currency has lost all its value with inflation hitting 1,000,000%.
This has been followed by an increased uptake of cryptos in this country. The cryptos that have been most favored by Venezuelans are Dash coin (Dash), Digibyte (DGB) and Bitcoin (BTC). The first two are favored for their efficiency in value transfer, while BTC acts more as a store of value for people looking to safeguard whatever wealth they have left. These are also the cryptos that saw an increase in volumes when the Turkish currency showed signs of weakness about a month ago. This trend goes to show that in case more economies in the developing world begin to show signs of weakness, there could be an upsurge in the demand of these three cryptos.
The rise is these three cryptos is not just a fluke. They have what it takes to be a fall back for citizens of a falling economy. Starting with Digibyte (DGB), this crypto is one of the most decentralized. It is also permission-less and cannot be censored. This means that anyone, anywhere in the world can buy and spend Digibyte (DGB) without possible restrictions from any entity. It is also quite practical as a currency. That’s because it is fast, has low transaction fees and very secure.
On its part, Dash coin (Dash) is pretty much a perfect fiat replacement. That’s because it is fast, low fee and best of all is private. Dash coin (Dash) also has the infrastructure to allow for its use anywhere in the world. This makes it one of the coins that have a realistic chance of adoption in any economy where fiat is shaky. Its heavy trading volumes in Venezuela are testament to that.
Lastly, Bitcoin (BTC) is perfect as a store of value. Though it is not very efficient as a currency, it has proven itself in terms of holding value, even with its wild fluctuations in the market. In a situation where a currency is failing and people are afraid of losing their wealth, bitcoin will continue to be a good alternative, and this will lead to a major surge in the price of bitcoin (BTC) in most emerging economies.
