{"id":18841,"date":"2026-05-03T21:35:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T21:35:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finteqc.ca\/?post_type=finteqc_paper&#038;p=18841"},"modified":"2026-05-03T21:36:21","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T21:36:21","slug":"15951","status":"publish","type":"finteqc_paper","link":"https:\/\/finteqc.ca\/index.php\/papers\/15951\/","title":{"rendered":"The Medium Is the Message: the geographies of cryptocurrency remittances to Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Cryptocurrency remittances overcome many regulatory and practical barriers, but there is little empirical research into this increasingly popular remittance medium. In response, this article explores cryptocurrency remittances from Latin America and the Caribbean into Venezuela. Cryptocurrencies as a remittance medium conveys important messages for advocates and critics. To appropriately critique cryptocur-rencies, it is important to understand how they are used in the \u2018every day\u2019 rather than how their use may be characterised by ideologues. Rather than directly relying on \u2018trustless\u2019 and decentralised blockchain technology, \u2018really existing\u2019 cryptocurrency remittances are highly intermediated. Access to this medium is often hierarchical, stemming from knowledge barriers but also legal status (and by extension, economic status). The \u2018need\u2019 for trusted intermediaries prompts discussions around the relation-ship between \u2018trustless\u2019 blockchain technology and cryptocurrency remittances. This article shows that stablecoins (cryptocurrencies pegged to fiat currencies\u2014usually the US dollar) are the most popular cryptocurrency remittance medium. Stablecoins chal-lenge institutional attempts to geographically restrict currencies yet also contribute to global processes of dollarisation. Stablecoins simultaneously undermine spatial barri-ers to financial access yet may create new ones in the process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","class_list":["post-18841","finteqc_paper","type-finteqc_paper","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/finteqc.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/finteqc_paper\/18841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/finteqc.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/finteqc_paper"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/finteqc.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/finteqc_paper"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/finteqc.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}