Cuba buys bitcoin in droves, McAfee stands by $1M prediction

It was recently reported that Cuba might be looking towards cryptocurrency to solve its current economic crisis and evidence suggests that Cubans are increasingly becoming interested in this emerging asset class. The number of users purchasing bitcoin in the country is on the rise and this suggests an increase in interest in crypto. If tech pioneer John McAfee’s prediction that bitcoin’s value will reach $1 million in 2020 proves true, this would be a very good deal for the island nation.

Speaking to CoinDesk, Claudia Rodriguez of the crypto exchange Fusyona notes that it now has 700 users since its launch last year. As a platform that actively caters to Cubans, this suggests that there is a certain level of interest in cryptocurrency on the island. What’s more, investments from about 60 users amount to a couple of coins per week, which is a lot for the struggling nation.

“For Cuba, that is a lot. Cuba is probably going to be very interesting for Libra [developers] and I hope there will be some potential there,” she said.

Although Facebook has been emphasizing that its Libra project is aimed at financial inclusion, Cuban expat Ernesto Alfonso, who leveraged Bitrefill’s bitcoin payment options to help friends pay bills, is quite skeptical about the project's reach in Cuba. He said:

“There’s no possible way people in Cuba can use Libra unless we enter in the global monetary system. At the moment, we are living in a different galaxy.”

In fact, a Facebook spokesperson told CoinDesk that the social media giant has no plans to make Calibra wallet accessible to the island nation due to U.S. sanctions.

As for Cuba’s interest in bitcoin, its citizens can only hope that McAfee’s predictions will turn out to be true. The tech figure still believes that it is mathematically assured that the coin’s value will hit $1 million in 2020, The Independent reports. He also addressed bitcoin’s recent fluctuations in a Tweet, essentially making fun of the worrywarts who are anxious about the short-term changes.

“Bitcoin is at the mid 10's and people worry. LMFAO!! Why do you pay attention to weekly fluctuations? Look at the past few months FFS! It's rising drastically. I'm still positive about my $1 mil BTC price by the end of 2020. Alt coins like MTC and Apollo will rise ten times more,” the Tweet reads.