Jason Sanchez, 35, was able to start buying spare parts online last year for his...
HAVANA - Jason Sanchez, 35, was able to start buying spare parts online last year for his cellphone repair shop in Havana thanks to the advent of cryptocurrency trading in Communist-run Cuba.
The decades-old U.S. trade embargo cuts Cubans off from conventional international payment systems and financial markets. Cubans cannot obtain credit or debit cards for international use on the island and struggle to do so abroad. “We are using cryptocurrencies to top up our cellphones, to make purchases online, and there are even people reserving hotel rooms with ,” said the 33-year-old, who trades crypto as a side gig to his family’s baking business.
It then uses the pesos of Cubans who want to invest at least the equivalent of $150 in crypto to pay the remittances. The website, which charges a fee of up to 10 percent, has some 1,300 users to date. Foreign platforms are nervous about carrying out even legal transactions regarding Cuba due to past multimillion-dollar U.S. fines on institutions for violating sanctions.CUBAN GOVERNMENT CRYPTO?
“We worry the government will restrict us, prohibit things, start to say this is illicit enrichment,” said Sobrino.
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